Anger, distrust, suspicion within party
Atiku, Wike’s factors still huge
Main opposition People’s Democratic Party may be heading for a major electoral embarrassment in 2023 except serious and deliberate reconciliation process starts in earnest, investigations by The Point have revealed.
Multiple sources confided in this newspaper that last week’s result of the gubernatorial election in Ekiti State and the spat between two chieftains of the party currently dominating political discourse are eloquent pointers to the soft underbelly of the party which must be quickly dealt with or it might be too late.
A chieftain of the party from Edo State said “the PDP has a lot on its plate to chew ahead of the 2023 general elections. And if it is to avoid an embarrassing tsunami of a defeat from now onward, it has to immediately sit down and ensure a thorough and far reaching reconciliation takes place.”
The party chieftain referred to the spat between Tom Ikimi and former Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State as “an ample demonstration of pent up anger, distrust and suspicion within the party, the result of its refusal to do fidelity to even our own rules. No fidelity, no equity, nothing. All you see is the selfish interest of privileged few dressed as national interest. Sorry, all this won’t take us anywhere. If care is not taken, Osun’s performance will be more disgraceful and woeful than that of Ekiti and it will affect morale of party members.
“Already, there are too many people, I mean people with names defecting from the party. There’s a lot of work to be done otherwise, it will be a monumental embarrassment next year.”
Ikimi, a few days ago blamed Fayose for the party’s poor performance in the recent election in Ekiti. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs stated in a television interview that “I am not afraid to say that our problem in Ekiti has been caused by the activities of our past governor, Ayo Fayose.
All you see is the selfish interest of privileged few dressed as national interest.
“He ruined the place before he left office. He insisted on putting his candidate through all kinds of struggles, even though we persuaded him to do otherwise.
“He ended up, on election day, rolling on the floor and crying, but that did not get us anywhere.
“Put that to rest. The build-up to the choice of the candidate in Ekiti was a big struggle. All kinds of meetings, peace interventions, until we had the heart to push away Segun Oni, who went to SDP (Social Democratic Party) that was not known here. The outcome is clear.”
Fayose, never to be outdone in things of this nature shot back on Tuesday at Ikimi, saying he lacks maturity and decorum, notwithstanding his age. He wondered why Ikimi would be “ranting on Ekiti matter”, when he has never contested and won any elections.
Writing in his verified twitter account, Fayose said “Age they say, comes with decorum and maturity not only grey hairs. It appears that reverse is the case with Chief Tom Ikimi, who is ranting on matters of Ekiti.
“Apart from being Chairman of NRC, a party he led to electoral defeat in 1993, has he ever contested or won a state election?
“If this latest vituperation of Ikimi is a fallout of my support for Governor Wike during the PDP presidential primary, then he should match his age with numbers and recall that this same Fayose gave PDP 16/0 over APC in 2014 and defeated Niyi Adebayo, an incumbent governor in 2003.
“He should also be reasonable enough to understand that the same PDP that lost election in Ekiti on Saturday to various factors, had in the past, won elections and will still win elections in future.
“To this end, if Ikimi is seeking relevance with Atiku, he should do the same more decently. He should allow the sleeping dog to lie and save the PDP from unnecessary shootouts and fireworks at this time as we approach the general elections.”
Yet another chieftain of the party, who also pleaded anonymity, devoted his response to inquiry in dissecting Fayose’s repose to Ikimi. He told The Point that notwithstanding the resort to diplomatic language, Fayose failed to properly cover up the “stench in the party.”
“What you should look at is the possible things Fayose may be referring to in his response to Ikimi. He supported Wike, and Ikimi supported Atiku. The wound is still very fresh. Why did the party not go for a mega rally? Forget the official explanation. There is a huge stench in the party and tried as he did, Fayose could not cover up the stench in the party.
“You should go and figure out what the former governor meant by allowing sleeping dogs to lie, save the PDP from unnecessary shootouts, and possible fireworks as the general elections approach. These are deep things.
“Peter Obi left the party, Senate Minority Leader left, others are leaving here and there. I have personally lost count of people who command, at least their wards, leaving the party. Nobody seems to be sure of the next move of Governor Wike. And I tell you, Wike is a major force to be reckoned with in the party. If things are not properly handled, there is too much disenchantment within the PDP that people will be surprised at the way it would suffer electoral defeats,” he lamented.
