The PDP and its tense crises – Details Emerged

By Adeleye Kunle

Whether you like it or not, the Peoples Democratic Party remains Nigeria’s most structurally entrenched political party. PDP was formed in 1998 by a broad-based alliance dominated by the G-18, G-34, and a coterie of political organizations, some of which were unusual bedfellows in the nation’s political history, and has blended into a most formidable political machine with no trace of the cleavages, Track News Reports

Its main goal from the start was to end military rule; it promised no specific ideology, only a national platform where all tribes and tongues could find relevance and expression for the desired national integration. It is the only surviving platform of the numerous political parties that gave birth to what is known as the Fourth Republic.

Despite the defections, it is the only party whose name, identity, logo, and even its national headquarters have remained unchanged.

The PDP dominates the Nigerian political landscape to the point where other parties are essentially clones of the PDP, with the majority of their gladiators hailing from the Wadata Plaza political campus.

Its electoral exploits in the nation’s democracy are too recent to merit recounting here, and its impact as an agent of statecraft is not a topic for this discussion, especially since, as a member, I do not consider myself fairly qualified to pass judgment on its development of the Nigerian State and people. Nonetheless, a political party that dominated Nigerians’ lives for 16 years (1999-2005) will always be in the dock of public opinion.

The party’s founding principle is that the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria be rotated on a South/North basis, which began in 1999 with Olusegun Obasanjo of the South, who handed over to Umar Yar’Adua of the North, from whom Goodluck Jonathan of the South took over.

The fact that incumbent Goodluck Jonathan lost in 2015 to Muhammadu Buhari of the North was due to the hurriedly packaged APC contraption’s choice of a presidential candidate from the North being in sync with the emerging political culture. Significantly, the majority of today’s PDP gladiators, mostly of Northern origin, either broke ranks or remained fifth columnists to teach the party a bitter lesson for violating the rotational covenant enshrined in Article 7 of the party’s constitution.

They were quick to declare that if Jonathan were re-elected, the country would be ungoverned. Buhari not only had its first four-year term based on the national consensus that it was the turn of the North, but the PDP also ensured that no Southerner ran for its Presidential ticket.

In a nutshell, the current crisis in the PDP can be traced back to the unjustified denigration of the rotational principle when the party first agreed to the swapping of National Executive Committee positions between the north and south, which logically implied the rotation of the President’s office. To tell the truth, the swapping was done espirit de corps.

In contrast, shenanigans and indefensible theories trailed the steps leading up to the presidential ticket decision, which were unnecessary given the provisions of the constitution, convention, and precedents. Despite popular opinion, the PDP spearheaded the nauseating theory that the ticket be opened up so that the most competent candidate from any corner could be found in search of the candidate who could help the party win. Some juvenile arguments surfaced, claiming that the consideration was how many times the party had presented candidates from a specific region, rather than when it reigned.

To alleviate the palpable tension, the National Chairman, who was elected by consensus, pledged in honor that if the presidential candidate emerged from his own North, which would be incongruous, he would relinquish his position in favor of a new Chairman from the South. This should be the bare minimum in any organization where members respect one another.

The emergence of a Northern candidate in the PDP provided the impetus required to expose a Northern candidate’s hidden agenda in the APC. Senator Abdullahi Adamu felt compelled to announce that the presidential ticket had not been zoned as soon as he was elected National Chairman by zoning consensus and at the sole command of the President.

They resorted to saturating the political climate with the notion that the President indeed had a candidate and that the Convention would only be a ruse to rubberstamp the anointed when their scheme to allow the President to determine his successor, as he unilaterally did in selecting the Chairman, failed.

It took the godfather’s deliberate declaration of ‘Emi lokan,’ strategically spiced with larger Yoruba interest, to serve as a necessary reminder of the covenant at its inception and to warn of indeterminable consequences, which he no doubt has the capacity to bring about.

Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, had returned to PortHacourt after fighting for the PDP ticket and losing, ruminating and probably unsure of his next course of action. He remained silent in order to avoid being labeled a bad loser until it was determined that he could be appeased with the position of Vice President. They made a bad situation worse, ultimately playing into his hands.

The current presidential candidate, National Chairman, and BOT Chairman are all from the North, which is scandalous. Senator Walid Jubrin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said a lot on Channels on Sunday. It emphasizes the fairness of Wike’s case and struggle. Every honest party member is aware of the bare minimum solution.

It is not the responsibility of a Reconciliation Committee, many of whose members must reconcile with one another in their home states. It cannot be justified through television interviews. I was in line behind Dr. Ohunabuwa, who wondered how long it would take a party to resolve Nigeria’s intractable problems if it takes an eternity to resolve simple internal conflicts.

Dr. Iyorcha Ayu, distinguished academic, former President of the Nigerian Senate, and Minister of the Federation, was the Chairman of the 2014 National Conference’s Political and Electoral Committee, of which I was a member.

The path of honor and peace requires that the position of National Chairman be handed over to the South in a direction other than that which produces the presidential and vice presidential candidates for an inclusive and smooth campaign.