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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
At the beginning of the year, the focus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was to reconcile its aggrieved members across the country, as well as take a decision on the zoning of its presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections. This is ostensibly to place the opposition party on a stronger footing for the next general elections.
The PDP chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, while addressing party stalwarts, in Abuja, a few days after he assumed office, last December, had noted that the desire of the leadership was to resolve all issues and work together to achieve victory in all electoral contests.
“We think there is a need for dialogue with critical stakeholders and the party is going to do just that, so that by the time we are going into the elections, whatever election we are going into, we want to go into such election as the united force, a force that is capable of fighting and winning elections.
“The mood of the party is that of a party that will fight together as one united force and hopefully, we should be able to recapture as many states as possible, as many members of the National Assembly, both the two houses as possible, or state houses of assembly,” Ayu had said.
Analysts had predicted that the reconciliation of differences and resolving the zoning conundrum would ultimately shape the PDP in 2022 and point to the direction the party is headed in the 2023 polls.
However, for the PDP, 2022 was a mixed bag, with very little wins and many troubles that kept the opposition party on the edge for the greater part of the year. The crisis was largely a fallout of the decision of party to throw the contest for its presidential ticket open, against the dictates of its constitution.
Little wins
The opposition party started the year 2022 on a high note, following its victory in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Area Council election. The PDP had won three area councils chairmanship seats, including the Abuja Municipal Council (AMAC), several councillorship seats, in the keenly contested poll.
Ayu excited by the victory, had in a statement by his media aide, Simon Imobo-Tswam, said the victory at the February 12 FCT council polls is an indication of more victories to come for the opposition party, later in the year, in the 2023 polls.
According to him, “what we have just achieved in Abuja, the seat of power, will be replicated in Ekiti and Osun State later this year, culminating in our takeover of power at the centre next year, to usher in a better, more prosperous and secure Nigeria.”
However, the PDP lost the Ekiti governorship poll to the All Progressives Congress ( APC). Nevertheless, the opposition party candidate, Governor Ademola Adeleke, won the Osun State governorship poll.
Endless crisis
Regardless, by the middle of the year, the opposition party was hit by an internal crisis, which is still festering seven months after, in the aftermath of the nomination of former president Atiku Abubakar and Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as presidential and vice presidential candidates respectively.
The trigger was the nomination of Okowa as Atiku’s running mate. A panel set up by the PDP to shop for suitable running mate for the presidential candidate had reportedly voted in favour of the Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, by 14 votes to three.
Nevertheless, Atiku had settled for the Delta governor as his preferred choice. The PDP national chairman, while speaking at Okowa’s unveiling, dismissed media report that majority of the members of the selection panel voted in favour of a particular person.
This obviously did not go down well with loyalists of the Rivers State governor, who strongly believed that Wike, having scored the second highest votes at the PDP presidential primary ought to be Atiku’s running mate.
The development polarized the various organs of the party including the National Working Committee (NWC) as well as the PDP Governors Forum, with different groups queuing behind the pro-Wike and Atiku/ PDP leadership groups.
Those in the Wike group include Governors Samuel Ortom, Benue; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu; Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. They are supported by Donald Duke, Jonah Jang and Ayo Fayose, former governors of Cross River, Plateau and Ekiti states, as well as Chief Olabode George and Bello Adoke.
The Wike leaders who have stayed away from party functions including the PDP presidential campaigns since June have continued to insist on the replacement of Ayu, who they accused of alleged bias in the nomination process, with a Southerner as condition for peace in the opposition party.
Recall that a day after the PDP presidential primary, the national chairman, during a visit to the Abuja residence of the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, was shown in a video clip hailing the governor as the “hero of the convention”. The development did not go down well with several party stalwarts.
Tambuwal had withdrawn from the contest for the PDP presidential ticket at the 11th hour paving way for Atiku’s victory in the primary.
In the course of the year, there were several attempts to resolve the party crisis, without success, as the two divides were not able to come to a compromise. While the Wike group insists on Ayu’s replacement, the PDP chairman had said repeatedly that he has no plan to quit.
Also, in the search for peace, the chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jubrin, resigned his position and was replaced by former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara. However, his resignation was of no effect in the party crisis.
Though some state chapters of the PDP were in crises prior to 2022, these crises exacerbated in the course of the year, especially in the aftermath of the nomination of candidates for next year’s polls. Consequently, party leaders in the concerned states are locked in a bitter tussle ahead of the 2023 general elections.
At the moment, no fewer than 12 state chapters of the major opposition parties are embroiled in crisis. They include Ebonyi, Edo, Cross River, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Kano and Imo states.
Defections
The outgoing year also witnessed the defection of prominent members of the PDP to other political parties. Prominent figures, who dumped the party in 2022 include the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi; former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and PDP governorship candidate in the last Anambra State governorship poll, Valentine Ozigbo.
Also, some aggrieved members including members of the National Assembly, who lost in the nomination of candidates for the 2023 polls equally ditched the PDP to seek relevance in other political platforms.
Crack in the PDP Governors Forum
However, the greatest challenge that confronted the opposition party in 2022 was the polarisation of the PDP Governors Forum. In the aftermath of the nomination of the PDP presidential and vice presidential candidates, the once cohesive Governors Forum has been factionalized.
On one hand is the chairman of the Forum, Tambuwal; Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel; Delta governor, Okowa; Taraba governor, Darius Ishiaku; Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and Bayelsa governor, Diri Douye. While Wike, Ortom, Ugwuanyi, Ikpeazu and Makinde belong to the other faction. Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed is sitting on the fence, just as the leaning of the Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke is not clear.
Consequently, the forum has not been able to meet in the last six months. Pundits say the division among the opposition governor is majorly responsible for the festering crisis in the PDP. Usually, whenever the party is in crisis, it is the governors that set in and give a direction. But with the governors sharply divided, it has been everyone for himself in the PDP in the outgoing year.
No doubt, 2022 will for a long time be remembered as one of the most turbulent years in the 24 years history of the major opposition party. It is a year the PDP set out to resolve all its differences, ahead of the 2023 general elections, but ended up in deeper crises.
