Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
When former Senate President, Iyorchia Ayu, emerged as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in October, 2021, he said his priority was to return the opposition party to its winning ways.
Ayu, in an interview with journalists, had said his priority as national chairman would be to lead the PDP to win the presidency, regain majority in the National Assembly, and win at least 20 governorship seats.
According to him, “My priority is for the party to take power. Political parties priorities are always to win…There was time PDP was controlling over 20 states. That has been reduced to 13. We hope and pray and we will work very hard to increase that number from 13 to control over 20 states; possibly, we will win the Federal Government.”
However, seven months to the 2023 general elections, the PDP is buffeted by several challenges. From the nomination controversy raging in several state chapters of the opposition party, to the dust raised by the emergence of Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as vice presidential candidate, to push for the sack of Ayu as national chairman, it is crises galore for the opposition party.
Issues arising from the nomination of Okowa as vice presidential candidate are threatening the cohesion of the opposition party, ahead of the polls.
Besides, at the last count, no fewer than 12 state chapters of the PDP are enmeshed in crisis arising from the conduct of the party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the 2023 polls.
Unending furore over VP slot
In the aftermath of the unveiling of Okowa as PDP 2023 vice presidential candidate, the opposition has been on the edge. Apart from the Delta governor, others recommended for the vice presidential slot were the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Udom.
However, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar settled for Okowa. Atiku, while unveiling his running mate, said the Delta governor “personifies not only the seriousness the current moment represents for our country, but also the future that our young people yearn for and deserve.”
He added: “He is a serving state governor who has demonstrated, in his state and through his conduct, that governance is about service to the people. “
However, loyalists of the Rivers State governor, had expressed misgivings over Okowa’s emergence as vice presidential candidate. According to them, Wike, who came second in the PDP presidential primary ought to be Atiku’s running mate. A panel set up by the PDP to shop for suitable running mate had reportedly voted in favour of the Rivers governor by 14 votes to three.
The crisis, it was gathered, has 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 Wike and Atiku.
Consequently, the pro-Wike governors and party leaders have stayed away from functions in recent times. Daily Sun reliably gathered that party stakeholders aggrieved by the outcome of the nomination of Okowa as vice presidential candidate are plotting to unseat Ayu as the national chairman.
The national chairman who visited the Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, a day after the PDP convention, and was shown a video clip hailing the governor as the “hero of the convention” is accused of alleged bias in the process leading to the emergence of the PDP presidential and vice presidential candidates. Tambuwal had withdrawn from the contest for the PDP presidential ticket at the 11th hour paving way for Atiku’s victory in the primary.
However, the Special Assistant on Communication and Strategy to the PDP chairman, Simon Imobo-Tswam, told Daily Sun that Ayu’s visit to Tambuwal’s residence did not remove from the credibility and integrity of the national convention.
Imobo-Tswam added that the national chairman has kept his promise to ensure that the nomination process is free and fair. He said: “When Dr Ayu became the chairman of the party, he was clear about giving everyone a level playing field. At every forum, he emphasised that the NWC which he leads was going to be very impartial, so that the best candidate emerge in a very transparent manner that doesn’t give room for contentions and misinterpretation. And to a large extent, that was what Dr Iyorchia Ayu did.”
The Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, in a recent television interview, said the Rivers governor and his supporters deserve an explanation from Atiku on why he was not chosen as the party’s vice presidential candidate.
Ortom had said: “I expect him(Atiku) to reach out to Wike, who came second and was denied the popular view of PDP members, 14 out of 17. In his wisdom, he chose that it should be Governor Okowa. Governor Okowa is a nice man. I have no problem with him. If we are in a democratic era and 14 people out of 17 say it should be Wike and he, in his wisdom gave it to Okowa, I expect more explanations. I expect him to talk to Wike first, that we are supporting.
“I expect him to even reach out to some of us so that together, we can work as a party.” The Benue governor is one of the four governors supporting Wike. Others are Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu and Seyi Makinde of Enugu, Abia and Oyo states respectively.”
However, in a twist, Ortom, on Monday, told journalists that the issue between Atiku and the Wike group was being resolved. Nevertheless, it is yet not clear how far the party has gone in pacifying Wike’s loyalists, and other aggrieved persons, who are insisting on the replacement of Ayu as a condition for peace.
PDP trouble spots
Ahead of the 2023 polls, the Edo, Ebonyi, Kano, Delta, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ekiti, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Lagos states’ chapters of the PDP are enmeshed in post nomination crises and leadership tussle. In Ebonyi, Kano, and Edo states’ chapters, PDP factions which held parallel primaries to nominate candidates for the 2023 polls, are currently in different courts across the country over who are the authentic candidates of the party for the forthcoming polls.
Also, in Delta State, the issue of who is the authentic governorship candidate of the PDP is also a subject of litigation before the Court of Appeal. While the controversy over the nomination of candidates in the Abia, Anambra and Akwa Ibom states’ chapters of the PDP has led to the exit of many members of the party to other political parties.
Similarly, in Enugu State, there have been an uneasy calm in the PDP, in the aftermath of the party primaries, where the camp of the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi routed supporters of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. In a related development, PDP leaders in Lagos, Imo and Ekiti are locked in a supremacy battle ahead of the next general elections.
Ironically, the PDP is facing a portent threat from the Labour Party (LP) and the APC in all the states enmeshed in crises.
Stakeholders are apprehensive that the crises rocking the party at the state and national levels, if not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, will adversely affect the fortunes of the party in 2023 polls.
A member of the PDP National Executive Committee ( NEC) Kola Ologbondiyan, expressed optimism that all the issues in the party would be resolved before the next general elections. However, Ologbondiyan, in an interview with Daily Sun, said the party’s candidates at all levels must be conciliatory.
“We must preach to the need for reconciliation in the party. And the need for those who have emerged as candidates at the various levels, be it in the state house of assembly, be it in the House of representatives, be it in the Senate, be it for governorship and be it for the presidency, we all need to return to the base and we all need to be conciliatory, and be magnanimous in our approaches to the general elections,” Ologbondiyan said.
Ray of hope from Osun
However, the PDP recent victory in the just concluded Osun State governorship poll has rekindled the party ‘s hope in the 2023 polls, with its leadership thumping its chest. The opposition party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, had defeated the Osun State governor, Gboyega Ayetola, who was the All Progressives Congress ( APC) candidate in the poll.
Ayu, in the aftermath of the election, had said with the party’s victory in Osun, its next move is to regain control of the presidency in next polls. According to him, “this election was a referendum on the disastrous APC stewardship, and proves conclusively that Nigerians want PDP back. And, indeed, PDP is coming!”
Prior to the Osun poll, the PDP National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, had said the party will use Osun as a launching pad for the 2023 elections in the South West and the rest of the country.
Anyanwu, who spoke at a function at the party’s secretary had stated that “If we can win Osun and Lagos, we have started making an inroad into the South West. Nigerians have rejected APC. I don’t see the magic they will do in this election. “
The celebration over Osun is understandable. Weeks earlier, the opposition had suffered a humiliating defeat in the Ekiti State governorship election. Pundits say the loss of the Ekiti governorship poll is traceable to the crisis in the state chapter and the national level.
Nevertheless, a school of thought believes that Osun electorates voted for Adeleke as an individual, and not necessarily for the opposition party. Besides, analysts say it is the interest of the PDP not to be carried away by its recent victory in Osun, especially as the crisis at the various levels of the party remains largely unresolved.
Many believe the PDP, which suffered a humiliating defeat in 2015, owing to internal wrangling must have to thread carefully to avoid the pitfalls of the past.
Nevertheless, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, told Daily Sun that though disagreements are expected in political parties, efforts are being made to resolve all the issues in the opposition party, before the 2023 polls.
Ologunagba said, “first of all, politics is about conflicting interests. So, differences cannot be ruled our in party politics. We recognize that. But what is more important in all these is that we have within our processes a robust difference resolution mechanism. And it is working.
“Ultimately, we will bridge the gap. We are hopeful that before the election, all the parties will come together. Every stakeholder is conscious that this is not about self. It is about the party and more importantly about the country.”
