With five days to the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), all tendencies in the main opposition party are busy trying to put themselves in better stead to control the PDP machinery. KUNLE ODEREMI X-rays how the convention might pan out.
CONFLICTS within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over next Saturday’s national convention took varying colourations in the outgone week, as the final countdown to the epic event reached fever pitch lately. The crisis has thrown up a legion of issues with the powerful caucuses in the party enmeshed in intense and complex intrigues, treachery and perhaps, grandstanding. All these have crystallised in at least 13 core points of discord among the blocs cutting across all the six geopolitical zones in the country. The ability and capacity of the PDP leadership to manage the disagreement in the next few days could determine the outcome of convention coming up in Abuja. But critically speaking, the campaigns have centred on the issue of power, money politics, a Siamese twin that only a naïve political would ignore at his own peril.
Zoning
Central to the discontent is the principle of zoning, which has become the norm and practice and custom in the PDP. Ambivalence by the party’s top hierarchy on the zoning has polarised the party and engendered serious suspicion and distrust. This has led to the wave of allegations of impunity, conspiracy and undercut against the leadership. It is being accused of conspiring with a section of the PDP governorship bloc to pave the way for certain anointed candidates as substantive national chairman, secretary and youth leader and women leader and other key national officers. The open-ended nature of the zoning arrangement for the contest for national chairman has created deep schism that has seen some camps of the contestants for the coveted position literally declaring war against the current interim national leadership of the party. The gladiators have elected to fight dirty because of fear that some powerful forces and elements were bent on taking PDP back to its inglorious past that culminated in the defeat of PDP in the 2015 general election.
Micro-zoning
Perhaps, the most contentious issue now is the principle of micro-zoning, which some of the advocates claim is meant to eliminate any form of ambiguity concerning the elective offices. For the purpose of the next general elections, the PDP has conceded its presidential ticket to party faithful from the North, while the vice presidential slot is reserved for the Southern counterparts. Similarly, the position of national chairman has been zoned to the South, where only the South-West wing of the PDP is yet to produce since in the 18 years of PDP existence. With the hindsight of history and experience, some party stalwarts believe the open-endedness was an invitation for disputes and dogged fight as each of the divide comprised three zones. The contention is that the party ought to be definite on which of the zones in the South should produce national chairman and with such zone adopting micro-zoning based on reality, present and past on power distribution. The argument is most prevalent in the South-West, where some states have either served and or still have one of their own holding a national office. An adoption of the micro-zoning would technically knock out most of the seven aspirants from the zone currently locked in a make or break battle for the post of national chairman. It will not only prune their number but also put the zone in a better stead for the position against the south-South, where Chief Uche Secondus, the immediate past interim National Chairman of PDP hails from. He is currently a major contender for the post of national a chairman, though some sources said there is a secret plan that he steps aside once the standard bearers of the PDP emerges for the 2019 elections.
Meanwhile, a contestant for the post of national treasurer, Aminu Bala, was quoted on Wednesday to have said the use of micro zoning was inbuilt in the politics of the PDP. “Micro zoning has stabilized the party since inception. It was created by the founding fathers to allow people from all parts of the country to have access to political power. So, the practice over the years is that major positions are shared by the six geopolitical zones. Even within the zones, positions are micro-zoned among states,” he said. A similar view was expressed by a deputy chairmanship contestant, A. Y. Gombe, who said: “Since the party’s NEC said the Presidency is zoned to the North and the national chairman is zoned to the South, the leaders in the South have to meet and zone the position to a particular zone if that has not been done, it should be done before the convention.”
Party loyalty
Some quarters within the PDP have elevated the issue of eligibility, based on where the PDP is coming from in recent times. They are concerned about the attitude of the party to matters like loyalty, integrity and honour. According to them, the convention should serve as a pay-back time for those party members that have remained with the PDP in the thick and the thin, as well as invested resources to rescue the party from jaws of death. Such party men said they refused to jump ship, even in the face of blatant injustice and outright marginalisation in the party. They raised such teasers as if their reward for electing to sink with the PDP ship during the tempest after all, is to watch ambivalent members or deserters assume leadership position. But, another school of thought contends that what is important for PDP now is to put its First Eleven forward. With the PDP leadership having created a level-playing field, the apostles of this hypothesis insist that delegates should be allowed an unfetter freedom to determine the fate of the contestants. What is imperative, according to them, is expediency and not blind loyalty based on personal ego and parochial interest. According to them, any attempt to bar some categories of aspirants could react the era of impunity in the party and jeopradise its fresh chances at rebranding and rediscovery. Therefore, they said the movement out and back into the party by a few of its stalwart should be situated in contextual circumstances and dynamics in the nation’s political environment coupled with the fluidity of time.
Waver clause
Curiously, many of the stakeholders are equally debating angrily about what they considered as the inordinate ambition of those that have suddenly found the PDP as a new beautiful bride and returned to the fold. Though they regard the decision of such political leaders as good, their view is that such individuals ought to come to rebuild the party instead of quickly throwing their hats in the ring before and after the forthcoming national convention. The feeling is that they ought to join forces with those that have acted as the stabilising forces during and after the crisis that almost sent the PDP to the ashes of history. To them, the question of granting wavers to returnee PDP leaders is tantamount to igniting another fire under the party’s umbrella.
Politics of godfather
The PDP Governors Forum, NASS caucus; camps of former President Goodluck Jonathan and some former top military brass remain potent blocs in the PDP. Apart from Jonathan, who is seen as the current alter ego of the party, the governors rank among the major stakeholders in the party since its formative years. There is crack in the camp of the governors in the last few weeks over the elective offices and the zoning principle. The disquiet is more over the contest for national chairman, as some of the governors seem to be at a crossroads over who they should ‘anoint’ among the contenders for the position. Vestiges of the undercurrents ahead of the race for the presidential ticket of the party seem apparent. Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, has indicated his interest in the ticket, which is zoned to the North by the PDP. The South-East and the South-South are in a hide and seek for the position of vice presidential ticket, with the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and Senator Ben Obi being touted as possible contenders for the position. The role of some Army Generals, who constitute a backbone of the PDP since inception has also been manifesting. Their strategic place in the affairs of the party necessitated their series of consultations with those former Nigerian leaders by virtually all the chairmanship aspirants during their campaigns. So, some activities of the party lately have been interpreted as depicting the hands of Esau and voice of Jacob.
War chest
No doubt, the battle ahead of the convention is being fought from all fronts by those seeking to become substantive national officers. They are putting in all that is required to emerge and take the party to the Promised Land in 2019. Most of the leading contestants for chairmanship have taken their campaigns to almost all the 36 states and the federal capital, Abuja, either by land or by air. A lot human and material resources are being deplored as the battle gets to the stage of separating the men from the boys. Potential presidential contestants are said to be giving a helping hand in one or two cases, while there are speculations about some external forces using fronts to frustrate the convention by providing logistics to some desperate contestants.
BoT membership
There is acrimony of the eligibility of members of the BoT at the convention. Questions are being asked if they could seek the office of national chairman. A statement credited to the chairman, PDP board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin that members of the board were not eligible for the party’s chairmanship elicited angry reactions in some camps, because he said ‘the aspirants must not be seen using their offices to curry their personal gains.’ They faulted his position on the matter on the ground that the BoT members were not PDP officers as underlined in the constitution of the PDP.
Criminal matters
A number of gladiators in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP have cases before the anti-graft agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) over sundry allegations. Some the cases predate the present federal administration, but have become a major campaign issues in the race for key elective offices at the incoming PDP convention, even when the 2019 elections is more than one year from now. Whereas those political leaders facing such allegations of impropriety while they were in office subsists, they have strongly defended their eligibility at the PDP convention since they have not been convicted for any wrong doing: that those matters remain mere allegations, which might not stand the test of time. Somehow, the argument might have informed moves by other vested interests within the party to step further in excavating issue bordering on party finances after the party lost the 2015 elections.
Aspirants and their constituencies
The 2015 defeat whittled down the number of zones the PDP strongholds across the country. Its dominance in the North in terms of presence in Government house and state Houses of Assembly paled into insignificance now, given its record from 2003 to the last general election. It can only boast of the South-South, South-East as its major using the index of a ruling party. Thus, this has constituted a bargaining chip and power by the South-South, especially in the contest for the office national chairman and in the underground moves over the vice presidential slot. However, the argument of the PDP faithful I the South-West is that the party would be stabbing itself in the foot if it chose to marginalize the South-West where it current controls Ekiti State. The popular view among its rank and file is that the PDP can only give the ruling APC a good fight by making sure the zone produced the national chairman. Through this, the people of the zone would have a sense of belonging and believe there could be more for the area if they vote PDP in the next elections. Nonetheless, the issue of strength has also become a yardstick in estimating the character of the chairmanship aspirant from the South-West. Each has been placed on a scale of ability to deliver his constituency/state to the party at general election, with party members saying experiences of the past obliterate the real relevance, capacity and capability of quite a few.
Petitions
The rivalry between some forces in the South-South PDP and their South-West counterparts over the chairmanship slot remains a sour point. The latter alleged a grand plot to sabotage the opportunity of the South-West to have one of their own as PDP boss. The allegation is that those forces have colluded with Fifth Columnists among PDP in the South-West to frustrate the desire of the zone to fill the position. A petition dated November 30, 2017 addressed to the PDP National chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi is said to be the against the said the conspiracy theory against the South-West PDP. The petition, signed by one Adeola Akindele on behalf of Concerned PDP members for Justice in Oyo State, is said to be kicking against the interest of one Nureni Adisa, for the post of deputy national chairman. He reportedly obtained his nomination form on Monday, November 27, 2017 at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja. The petitioners alleged that he has the backing of the loyalists of Secondus, who is the sole chairmanship aspirant from Rivers State, as well as a former minister from the South-West.
List of delegates
It is one matter that underlies the crisis in a number of state chapters of the party. All the leading stakeholders are involved in a supremacy battle with the sole aim of ensuring that most of their loyalists make the about 2,800 delegates, ostensibly because of their individual aspirations and interest at a higher level for bargaining and negotiation. The contest for power at the states have pitted some governors against other influential party men and women, and even led to the conduct of parallel congresses and emergence of both real and imagined list of potential delegates to the convention.
The rule of engagement spells out the categories of those that should be delegates. The rules states:
National Convention: Establishment and Composition
- (1) There shall be a National Convention of the party which shall consist of-
(a) The National Chairman of the party, who shall be the Chairman of the Convention and other members of the National Executive Committee;
(b) The President and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who are members of the party;
(c) Members of the National Assembly, who are members of the Party;
(d) State Governors and Deputy Governors, who are members of the party;
(e) All Gubernatorial candidates of the party; who shall be automatic delegates to the convention;
(f) Members of the State Houses of Assembly, who shall be automatic delegates to the Convention;
(g) the members of the Board of Trustees
(h) Members of the Zonal Working Committee and State Party Chairmen and Secretaries, including those of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja;
(J) Party chairmen of the Local Government Areas;
(k) One National delegate from each Local Government Area to be elected at the Local Government Area congress for the purpose;
(l) All elected Local Government Council Chairmen, who are members of the party;
(m) Former members of the National Working Committee who are still members of the Party; and
(n) Former Senate Presidents and Deputy Presidents, former Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives and other Principals Officers of the National Assembly who are still member of the Party.
2019 tickets
One fundamental fact about the convention is that all the stakeholders in the PDP have their minds on the 2019 elections. The intra-party election is meant to produce a template. The outcome will go a long way in affirming the real powerbrokers in a rebranded PDP, as it will give some directions on further distribution of major elective political offices should be accrued out. These offices include vice president, Senate President, deputy Senate President, Speaker and deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, as well as other elective positions at the lower level and across board.