BY AUGUSTINE AVWODE
Efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party to recreate itself and rise from its cold ashes like the mythical Phoenix in a glorious form began some weeks ago. It, however, gathered pace last week with the appointment of Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, as Chairman of its 2021 National Convention Organising Committee. The Convention of the party was scheduled for October 30 -31 and to be held in Abuja by relevant organs of the party as one of the key moves to restore order and sanity in the party and above all, stop the hemorrhage that has befallen it of recent in the form of membership defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The party also announced same day, Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as Chairman of the Zoning Committee. PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, who briefed newsmen on the resolutions of the PDP National Executive Committee meeting last Thursday in Abuja, said that the NEC met to discuss critical issues concerning the party.
He stated that the NEC at the meeting approved the composition of the convention planning committee just as it equally approve a committee to zone the National Working Committee offices.
In his words: “The NEC approved Governor Fintiri as Chairman, 2021 National Convention Organizing Committee, Sen. Douye Diri, the Governor of Bayelsa as Deputy Chairman, while Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo state is to serve as Secretary,” Ologbondiyan said.
On zoning committee, Ologbondiyan said that the NEC approved Ugwuanyi as chairman; Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue as Deputy Chairman; and Deputy Governor of Zamafara, Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed, as secretary of the committee.
He reiterated NEC’s charge to the committees to work hard to ensure the successful conduct of the National Convention.
Ologbondiyan equally disclosed that the party also received the report of the Sen. David Mark-led committee which had been saddled with resolving the leadership crisis buffeting the party. He was quick to state the party’s gratitude to Nigerians for sticking with it.
“NEC thanks Nigerians for the confidence they repose in the PDP and for the solidarity and support they have collectively shown our party at this trying time.
“NEC commends the efforts of the National Working Committee, the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Assembly caucus and other stakeholders in resolving the challenges confronting the party.”
However, cautious optimism seems to be the major approach of the party supporters. While they are happy that steps are being taken to reposition the party, they have been compelled to moderate their joy given the recalcitrant nature of the dramatis personae in the crisis rocking the party. A chieftain of the party who declined to be named said much as he was elated that the party is headed in the right direction, he must do well to moderate his enthusiasm with a sprinkle of caution.
He cited the seemly intractable case involving the national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, and some highly place individuals as his major concern. He predicted a situation where the matter may drag on to the Supreme Court and if that happens, it could spell untold disaster for the party.
“The case of the national chairman imposes on me as an individual, the necessity to be cautious in my sense of optimism. Nobody seems to be ready to step down, as it were, from his high horse. There is nothing on ground to suggest that a compromise would be reached tomorrow. Everything seems to be in the hands of the Court and you know if the Court says this, any aggrieved party may not want to abide by it, especially since they have the resources to test the Law to the last court in the land. “Those who are fighting Secondus are not ready to concede an inch, just like himself, from all indications, is not ready to go down without a serious fight. And you know that won’t be good for the party. And I heard that the Senator David Mark reconciliation Committee, based on wisdom, intelligence gathered and all, I learnt has advised the party leadership to allow Secondus run out his tenure by December this year. That seems too far for those he is up against.”
Also reacting to the development in the party, Anslem Ojezua, lawyer and former Edo State All Progressives Congress Chairman, who led other party faithful to defect to the PDP along with Governor Godwin Obaseki, equally sounded a note of a wait and see approach. But he was full of applause for the move by the party leadership, saying that was what any reasonable party leadership should do to stabilize the ship of the party.
“I think it is still early in the day yet and I think we should just watch and see how events unfold because it is the outcome of the convention and the reception by a cross section of party leadership and members that will really determine the answer to your question.
“But of course the steps taken by the leadership is commendable. That is what a responsible leadership will do. Once things are getting out of hand, it is the leadership that will take responsibility to check, and ensure that things are brought back to normal. Hopefully by the time the convention is over, there would have been a representative decision taken and hopefully that can engender a new dawn in the party. Don’t forget that in the next 20 months or thereabout, we are going into another web of general elections. So the quality of the leadership of the party will actually be very critical, particularly looking at the very delicate and fragile position of the so called governing party,” Ojezua said .
“I think it is still early in the day and I think we should just watch and see how events unfold because it is the outcome of the convention and the reception by a cross section of party leadership and members that will really determine the answer to your question”
He told The Point that he was not worried about the spate of defection that that hit the party in the not too distance past, saying those involved had reasons to do so because they were facing one form of allegation or another.
“I wasn’t worried by spate of defection that hit the party. The reason is because it was more like a show business with some element of blackmail involved and from reports we got in the media. Most of those who moved appeared to be very susceptible to some sanctions on account of allegations against them and therefore it was safer for them to make the move.” He was however skeptical about the effectiveness of their decision and the wisdom behind it because of the inherent structural deficiencies in the APC. “How effective that would be I don’t know because the problem that APC has really is the problem that has to do with its own legitimacy, the entire structure of APC, in my own opinion, has very questionable status because at the moment, APC is being managed by a structure that is not democratically elected. That cannot be what the Constitution of the Federal Republic, the Electoral Act and even the Constitution of the APC, none of those documents, envisaged that such a situation can ever arise that a political party in a democracy will be run by an arbitrarily set up structure. I don’t think that will stand,” he stated.
Another top chieftain of the party equally endorsed the move to get things sorted out and those refocus the party. His response to The Point when asked for his opinion was a terse SMS, while pleading for anonymity. He wrote, “Yes. The party will emerge stronger. The reconciliation and repositioning for 2023 is now in a clear course.”
Rumblings of fierce disagreement and internal wrangling involving top party officials of the PDP blew into open last month when a Rivers State High Court sitting in Degema granted an order forbidding the National Chairman for parading himself as such and at the same time suspending him as a member of the party.
That order was followed by another from Kebbi State reinstating him while yet another from Cross River State suspended him yet again.
The recent summon by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko to six state Chief Judges to appear before him was partly as a result of the many controversial and contradictory court orders surrounding the PDP chairmanship case.
Across the party, however, the general feeling of members about the various moves by its leaders to wean it of crisis is that of “I see hope” to quote former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the party’s first Presidential candidate in 1999.
