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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The 2027 general elections is still about two years away. But in the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), party leaders are preoccupied on how the party can put its best foot forward in the the next general election.
The PDP, which governed the country for 16 years, beginning from the inception of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, was defeated by the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in the 2015 general elections.
Since that humiliating loss, efforts by the major opposition party to return to power has not been successful. In the 2019 general election, the PDP had zoned the presidential ticket to the North and fielded former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate. However, Atiku was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
For the 2023 polls, the PDP threw its presidential ticket open, with the former vice president emerged the opposition party’s standard bearer for the second consecutive time. However, Atiku’s emergence did not well with several members of the party.
After suffering successive defeats in three presidential elections, the PDP is seeking for a new direction as the country inches towards the 2027.
Nevertheless, the major opposition party is still contending with internal strife. Last week, the PDP National Working Committee ( NWC) broke into two factions with the warring groups suspending each other.
First the group led by the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, in a statement by the Director of Publicity, Chinwe Nnorom, announced the suspension of the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba and the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade.
On the flipside, Ologunagba, in two separate statements, announced the suspension of Damagum and Samuel Anyanwu, as acting national chairman and national Secretary respectively. He announced the National Treasurer, Yayari Ahmed Mohammed, as the new acting national chairman.
While the Board of Trustees ( BoT) has intervened, calling on the warring factions to sheath their sword, stakeholders are optimistic that the leadership issue and all contention in the PDP will be resolved in the next few days.
Former PDP National Vice Chairman, South West, and member of the National Reconciliation Committee, Eddy Olafeso,
told Daily Sun that the face-off between the NWC members will lead to a wholistic resolution of issues in the party.
“They said it is darkest when about dawn. It is darkest when it is about dawn. All this will lead to final and more permanent solution about the problems plaguing our party, ” Olafeso told our correspondent.
Amidst growing hardship in the country, stakeholders are pushing for the quick resolution of issues in the opposition party, so that the party can focus on preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Party stalwarts are optimistic that issues relating to the leadership of the party will be resolved at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for October 24. Daily Sun gathered that once that is done, attention will shift to the issue of zoning and who leads the PDP to the 2027 contest.
Nevertheless, stakeholders, it was gathered, are already pushing that the 2027 presidential ticket should be zoned to the South. Inside sources say those in this school of thought believe that that zoning the presidential ticket to the South will help achieving a full reconciliation in the party, in the aftermath of the bad blood generated by the 2023 general polls.
Unlike the PDP’s choice of a northern candidate in the 2023 presidential elections, pundits and stakeholders are of the view that a southern candidate should fly the flag of the party in 2027.
According to them, it will heal the wounds the southern flank suffered as a result of former vice president Atiku Abubakar flying the party’s 2023 presidential ticket.
Recall that prior to the 2023 election, there was an intense clamour for the PDP to zone its presidential candidate to the South. However, the party, in its wisdom threw the ticket open, with the former Vice President, emerging the standard bearer in a keenly contested primary. Regardless, he lost the election to President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu, who was the APC candidate in the 2023 polls, is from the South West.
A school of thought in the party say the election results might have been different had the opposition respected its principles of zoning as enshrined in its constitution. Those, in those of thought believe that the opposition party should be more strategic in the 2027 polls.
Also, Daily Sun gathered that some
critical stakeholders are equally pushing for a generational shift in the leadership of the PDP in the 2027 polls. A member of the PDP National Executive Committee ( NEC), who does not want his name in print told Daily Sun that “we are beginning to see reasons to allow younger elements take control of leadership, because the office of the president has proven to be a very Herculean one.”
The PDP deputy national publicity deputy secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, told Daily Sun that there is nothing wrong with the clamour for the opposition party to cede its 2027 presidential ticket to the South.
Abdullahi noted that since the party has fielded a northern candidate in the 2019 and 2023 general elections, without anything to show for it, it would not a bad idea to zone the ticket to the South.
According to him, “what is important is that we should promote what will lead to the victory of the party devoid of sentiment. We cannot be beclouded by sentiment to say it has to be North all the time; in 2019, a northerner flew the kite. In 2023 a northerner flew the kite for the party.
“And these chances given to the North did not yield result. It will not be out of place for us for strategic reasons to try a Southerner. ” However, he explained that it is a decision the party would take at an appropriate time.
However, while moves to resolve the issues in the PDP, as well as conversation over the zoning of the 2027 presidential ticket of the party continues behind the scene, stakeholders are already pushing for the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate.
Already, a political pressure group, the Oyo Renaissance Group, describes Makinde as a, committed party man, who has always stood by the PDP in thick and thin. The group, in a recent statement by its coordinator, Dayo Adedoyin, said “Governor Makinde has demonstrated his leadership qualities and strong capacity to deliver on his promises and mandate to his people in Oyo State in the array of people’s-oriented projects and policies he has achieved over time as Governor of Oyo State from 2019 to date.
“Governor Makinde is fully committed to the course of the Party and will continue to work with his colleague governors elected on the platform of the PDP in various states of the federation by implementing the manifesto and policy thrust of the Party. ”
A leader of the PDP, in Lagos State, Adetokunbo Pearse, believes that the internal wrangling in the opposition party, notwithstanding, the opposition stands a good chance of winning the 2027 polls.
A recent report quoted Pearse as saying that should Makinde clinch the 2027 presidential ticket of the PDP, the next general election would be a done deal for the opposition party.
“If Makinde wins the PDP Presidential Primaries and comes out as the Party’s candidate, he will become Nigeria’s president in 2027,” he reportedly said..
Abdullahi told Daily Sun that should the party decide to field Makinde as its 2027 presidential candidate, it would not be a bad decision, especially as he hails from South West, like President Bola Tinubu, who is likely to fly the All Progressives Congress ( APC) flag in 2027. However, he insists that it is a decision that will be made by the generality of party members.
According to him, “if we allow a South Westerner, particularly Seyi Makinde, it would not be an effort in futility. If Seyi Makinde is so favoured, coming from the zone of the President and governing one of the biggest states in Nigeria, Oyo. And then on account of his outstanding performance. He is young vibrant and full of clout. It will not be a bad idea.
“He is also from the region of the sitting president now and it will not be out of place if PDP thinks in that direction and I will be one of those that will support that thought. But it is not in my place to decide. It will be a collective of aggregate view that will come from members of the party, which I am one.”
There is no doubt that as the PDP moves to resolve its leadership crisis and begin preparation for the 2027 general elections, the issue of zoning for the next general elections will take the centre stage in the coming months.
Nevertheless, the question is whether the PDP will quickly resolve its internal issues and make a categorical statement on the zone of its 2027 presidential ticket.
Analysts say the way and manner the opposition party addresses the clamour for the zoning of the 2027 presidential ticket to the South will make all the difference for the PDP in the next general elections.
