“The nation will find it very hard to look up to leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground” —Sir Winston Churchill
By Daniel Kanu
As the disagreement between the aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) G-5 Governors and their party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, continues to deepen by the day, leader of the group, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State, is not leaving anything to chance.
Wike has been at loggerheads with the leadership of the PDP over his decision to withdraw support for Atiku in the presidential race.
He leads the G-5 Governors a.k.a Integrity Group, which also has Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) in a campaign against their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku, following his refusal to remove Iyorchia Ayu as chairman of the party and replacing him with a southerner.
The disagreement worsened when the G-5 Governors withdrew from the party’s presidential campaign. They have not only stayed away from the party’s presidential campaign rallies, but have also frequently been making incendiary comments to de-market Atiku.
Being a high-level power player, fully aware of implications and that politics in Nigeria is a delicate game full of shocks and surprises; Wike is taking extra measures, now legally, to consolidate his position in the party.
Perhaps, learning from the lessons of the latest suspension of Chimaroke Nnamani (Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District), former Governor Ayo Fayose’s son, Oluwajomiloju, and other candidates of PDP in Enugu, Imo and Ekiti states by the NWC of the party, Wike does not want to be taken unawares and be made the next casualty under an anti-party badge.
Last Monday, Wike, played a fast one, asking a federal high court in Abuja to stop the PDP from suspending or expelling him from the party.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/139/2023, Wike through his lawyers — DY Musa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN); Douglas Moru, and C.C. Chibuike — asked the court to order the defendants to maintain status quo and stay all actions relating to the threats to suspend or expel him.
The defendants in the suit are the PDP; the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP; National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP; Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the PDP; Samuel Anyawu, national secretary of the PDP; and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The bone of contention in the position of the G-5 Governors has been that since the emergence of Atiku as the presidential standard bearer of the party, it is injustice for both the presidential and the national chairmanship positions to reside in one zone, the North.
This resulted in their call for Ayu to resign.
But the party’s leadership position is that Ayu can only resign when Atiku wins the election, a position the G-5 Governors see as a slap, given the party’s power rotation agreement.
Unarguably, since the PDP lost the grip of power as the ruling party when former President Goodluck Jonathan suffered defeat in the hands of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the 2015 presidential election, PDP has remained ensnared in unending fading pall.
All efforts put in place to salvage the once acclaimed indomitable and largest political party in Africa have refused to produce the desired results needed to bring back the party to relevance.
The party has continued to fumble and wobble instead.
It was a piece of cheering news for the PDP when Ayu, former Senate president, was drafted in to become the party’s national chairman through the party’s old tradition – consensus building.
All eyes were on Ayu, in particular, to bring his rich political experience to bear and change the probability of political action for the good of the party with the other 21 new officials that also emerged by consensus.
That huge expectation was not to be or perhaps appears to have been bungled as Ayu has failed to translate that optimism into practical reality.
Even with Ayu in the driver’s seat, the PDP has continued to be riddled with leadership crises that cost it a huge fortune in the last few years and became even worse in 2021 when three governors and several lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives left the party for the ruling APC.
Wike has re-emphasised again and again that his group would only accept reconciliation that is based on equity, fairness, and justice.
He has maintained that their position that elective offices must be shared equally between the North and the South in the PDP ahead of the 2023 general election remained sacrosanct and not negotiable.
Neither the political leadership that is backing Atiku nor the G-5 Governors is willing to shift base in its position for reconciliation, hence the deadlock.
As it stands today, PDP is going into the 2023 elections a divided house, but whether the non-support of Wike and his G-5 team will affect the victory of Atiku will only be known after the presidential election slated for Saturday, February 25, just 13 days away.
Some political observers say the position of the G-5 group is gradually becoming an anti-climax, as confusion appears to be setting in and the ranks of the members becoming weak by the day.
But they have refused to endorse any other presidential candidate, just as they are not all in agreement on who to endorse.
Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, was born on December 13, 1957, to the family of Reverend and Mrs Nlemanya Wike at Rumuepirikom community, Obio-Akpor, Rivers State.
He was educated at Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
He holds degrees in Political and Administrative Studies, as well as Law.
Wike was elected twice as the Executive Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. He served his two terms in office from 1999 to 2002 and 2004 to 2007.
He was appointed Minister of State for Education on July 14, 2011 and was later appointed the acting Minister of Education, after Mrs Riqqayatu was sacked.