From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
In the build-up to the 2027 general election, a serious battle is raging within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is a battle for the control of the levers of power in the opposition party ahead of the polls.
While the tussle, which is a continuation of the crisis that hit the PDP prior to the 2023 elections, has worsened, the dynamics of intra-party wranglings have changed.
The power tussle, which has pitted top party leaders against one another, is more or less a straight fight between the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, on one hand, and loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on the other.
The PDP Governors Forum has Bala Mohammed; Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri; Bayelsa State Governor, Diri Douye; Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah; Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke; and Taraba State Governor, Kefas Agbu.
Others are Governors Caleb Mutfwang, Dauda Lawal, Siminalayi Fubara and Umo Eno of Plateau, Zamfara, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, respectively. While Fubara is on suspension, following an emergency rule imposed on his state by President Bola Tinubu, Eno has openly pledged support to President Tinubu’s re-election, giving an indication that he is on his way out of the opposition party.
After the 2023 general election, the bone of contention in the party was whether or not the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, should be replaced with a substantive chairman from the North-Central. While Wike’s loyalists are pushing for the acting national chairman to remain in office until the next national convention, the governors want a substantive national chairman from North-Central.
Damagum, who is the PDP Deputy National Chairman (North), assumed leadership of the opposition party after the former national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was ousted as national chairman a few weeks after the 2023 presidential poll, following his suspension by his ward in Benue State.
Nonetheless, the battle over the national chairmanship seat receded to the background, with the heightened tussle over the position of national secretary. Last December, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, affirmed the judgment of an Enugu High Court, which validated the nomination of former national youth leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye, as national secretary to replace Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
Anyanwu, an ally of the FCT Minister, was replaced by the South-East chapter of the party, where the position is zoned to, after he emerged the PDP candidate for the 2023 Imo State gubernatorial poll.
While the Imo-born former senator cried foul, critical PDP organs, including the National Working Committee (NWC), Board of Trustees (BoT) and the PDP-GF, threw their weight behind Ude-Okoye.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court, in its verdict on Appeal filed by Anyanwu, nullified the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, which validated the former National Youth Leader’s nomination as party scribe, and upheld the minority judgment, which stated that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the issue, as it was an internal affair of the party.
Regardless, the apex court’s verdict has generated diverse interpretations in the party, with Anyanwu insisting that he remains the PDP scribe.
Ahead of the next PDP National Convention, the stakes have gone even higher. For starters, the convention is expected to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) members that will superintend over the nomination of candidates for the 2027 polls. The gladiators understand this and are not leaving anything to chance.
Last month, the governors took steps to assert themselves as the leaders of the party. The governors, under the aegis of the PDP Governors Forum, after a meeting in Ibadan, reiterated their support for Anyanwu’s ouster and recommended that the deputy national secretary, Setonji Koshedo, should be acting, pending the nomination and confirmation of a substantive national secretary from the South-East.
Also, the forum proposed May 27 as date for a meeting of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), and August 28-August 30 for a National Convention to elect new NWC members. It also set up a zoning committee. According to the proposal, the Zoning Committee should consist of Diri, chairman, Lawal, vice chairman, and Mutfwang as secretary, while the National Convention Committee will have Fintiri, Adeleke and Mbah, chairman, vice chairman and secretary, respectively.
In a move that analysts say is a direct dig at Atiku, the PDP governors ruled out a coalition or merger with other political parties and the major opposition party for the 2027 elections.
According to them, “noting the nationwide speculations about possible merger of political parties, groups and/or associations, the Forum resolved that the PDP will not join any coalition or merger. However, the PDP as a major opposition party welcomes any party, persons or groups that are willing to join it with a view to wrestling power and enthroning good leadership in 2027.”
Atiku, who is believed to be nursing a presidential ambition in 2027, has been championing a coalition of opposition politicians to confront the APC at the next general election.
While the NWC has ratified all the recommendations of the PDP Governors Forum, with Koshedo taking charge as acting national secretary, former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, while appearing on a television programme recently, said the governors should sit with the FCT Minister, especially as regards the position of national secretary of the party, to avoid dire consequences in the days ahead.
According to him, “If the Supreme Court says Anyanwu is the National Secretary, okay, every other pronouncement is a nullity ab initio – where will it end – if they want to send a nominee to INEC, who will send it? Is it Anyanwu or the national chairman?’
The former governor added, “I want the governors to find ways to sit with (Wike) and move the party forward, else, I want to believe that there will be no candidate for the PDP. When you play into Wike’s hands, it becomes a problem.”
South-South/ South-East as battle ground
The South-East and South-South have become battlegrounds for the two power blocs warring over the control of the opposition party, with gladiators forming parallel structures in the two geo-political zones.
In the South-East, there is the Ali Odefa-led group and the Anyanwu group. The Odefa group, which enjoys the support of the Enugu Governor, the BoT chairman, Adolphus Wabara, and other top party bigwigs in the zone, is aligned with the PDP governors. In the Anyanwu group are Wike’s allies, including former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, and some party stakeholders from Ebonyi State who are opposed to Odefa’s continued leadership of the zone.
Recently, the Odefa group met at Government House, Enugu, where it re-nominated Ude-Okoye to replace Anyanwu as National Secretary. The stakeholders at the meeting threatened to severe ties with the PDP, if their nomination is treated with levity.
Like in the South-East, the South-South chapter of the PDP is also split between the gladiators. The crack in the zone became obvious after the NWC, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on February 20, called off the zonal congress to elect new officials for the zone.
However, loyalists of the FCT Minister, on February 22, went ahead with the congress, where they returned Chief Dan Orbih as National Vice Chairman. The NWC, in its reaction, described the February 22 congress as a nullity and appointed a zonal caretaker committee headed by Chief Emma Ogidi.
Last month, the Orbih faction announced the appointment of caretaker committees for the Edo and Bayelsa chapters of the opposition party. Nonetheless, the NWC dismissed the appointment as a nullity.
All eyes on PDP NEC
At the moment, all eyes are on the PDP National Executive Committee to take a position on all the contentious issues in the party. The NEC, which is the second highest organ of the PDP, is expected to meet at least once in a quarter. However, the last time the NEC met was on April 18. Since then, the meeting of the party organ has been rescheduled about five times.
Daily Sun gathered that the NEC, if it eventually meets on May 27, is expected to ratify the dates for the PDP national convention, as well as the convention and zoning committees. It is also expected to ratify the results of state congresses and take a decision on the contentious national secretary position, among other issues.
Analysts say the NEC meeting is a litmus test for the PDP in its quest to resolve its issues and start rebuilding itself for the 2027 contest. Pundits say the outcome of the NEC meeting will to a great extent determine the outlook of the next national convention of the party and its readiness for the 2027 elections.
Amid concerns that the NEC meeting, might be rancorous, the Bauchi State Governor, after a meeting of the PDP governors and former governors, announced the setting up of a Strategy Committee, headed by former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to reach out to aggrieved parties. Other members of the seven-man panel included Lawal, Mutfwang, Mbah, Senator Seriake Dickson, Ibrahim Dakwambo and Ikpeazu.
Mohammed, who was briefing on the outcome of the meeting, said, “We set up a committee of seven, headed by His Excellency, the former Senate President, and of course former Governor of Kwara State, to make sure that at least quick reconciliation and reach out will be made, in such a manner that we will have a very rancour free and harmonious NEC and convention.”
While the Saraki panel has started reaching out to the interest groups, the question is, how far can the committee go in getting the contending parties to close ranks?