BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
Precisely eight years ago, the then-ruling People’s Democratic Party was blown into shreds by the activities of disgruntled elements within it.
It was just a few months before the 2015 general election. The crisis led to the emergence of what later became known as the New People’s Democratic Party or nPDP.
The group had seven governors, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senators, House of Representatives members and many chieftains of the party across the country.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar and five out of the seven governors decamped to the then-opposition All Progressives Congress, and merged forces with it to fight their party’s standard bearer, Goodluck Jonathan, who also was the sitting President.
Their defection turned out to be the needed tonic for APC to go into the 2015 general election as a formidable force that later swallowed the ruling party and entered into records for defeating the ruling party.
Prior to the 2015 elections, the nPDP led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje together with Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, had rebelled against the PDP for fielding President Jonathan as its presidential candidate since they insisted that power must return to the north because the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a northerner, did not complete his tenure.
Their arguments and agitations bothered on the need for equity, fairness and justice which revolves around the Party’s agreement of the rotation of positions, particularly, the top six which include President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and National Chairman of the party between the north and south.
The G7 insisted that Jonathan should not contest and warned that his insistence to contest would be resisted at all cost and by all means by them because allowing him to contest would disorganize the party’s power rotation.
Five of them made good their warning by decamping to the APC while reports had it that the two who remained in the party, Aliyu Babangida (Niger) who was the chairman of the G7 governors’ forum and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) worked for the APC from within to make sure that Jonathan lost the election.
It was learnt that the duo, though serving out their second terms, woefully lost the governorship election in their states to the APC.
“Their defection turned out to be the needed tonic for APC to go into the 2015 general election as a formidable force that later swallowed the ruling party and entered into the record books for defeating the ruling party”
All the seven states of the G7 but one, Rivers, were captured by the APC in the 2015 election.
Aminu Tambuwal who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the platform of the PDP decamped and contested and won the gubernatorial election in Sokoto State on the platform of APC also his predecessor, Aminu Masari contested and won the gubernatorial election in Katsina State as APC candidate.
Former governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, who until the rebellion was a very strong PDP chieftain, won the senatorial election on the ticket of the APC. They were arguably part of the backbone of the new mega party, APC.
The unholy wind of 2015 seems to have hit the party again. And this time, it is threatening to sink the last attempt of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to rule the country.
Atiku, despite being a founding member of the party, has an unprecedented record of leaving the party to either form a new one or join another party for the purpose of contesting for the presidency.
He contested against the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, who he helped to win the election at the expense of the same PDP, in 2019 because it was the turn of the north. He lost the election and Buhari was reelected.
An unconfirmed story making the rounds but yet to be debunked by the Waziri Adamawa is that the then-incumbent President, Jonathan travelled to the United Kingdom to beg him for his support, but he blatantly told him he would not support him because it was the turn of the north. And he walked his talk, gave 100 percent support to the APC candidate, Buhari who eventually emerged as the winner.
The PDP experienced an exodus of party faithful, particularly in the north where it had strongholds and the now-ruling APC took over without stress.
The party is at it again. Another G5 governors, now christened the Integrity Group has emerged on the scene, this time with its strong base in the South led by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. Others are Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.
These governors’ demands are slightly different from that of the G7 in 2014. They are insisting that both the presidential candidate and national chairman of the party cannot come from the same zone and as such since the party’s standard bearer is Atiku Abubakar from the north, the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, also from the north should relinquish his position so that it goes to the south.
Efforts to settle them have hit brick walls as they have metamorphosed into an integrity group which is akin to the nPDP. They are expanding their horizon with party chieftains joining by the day.
The spokesman of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, Daniel Bwala, said there is nothing about integrity in what they are pursuing. He argued that they are selfish and lack integrity because they are not considering national interests.
“What is the meaning of integrity? The last time I checked, integrity is all about patriotism, and national interest over and above personal interest.
Governor Wike, who is the leader, is pursuing a selfish and personal interest. He contested the party’s presidential primary and lost to our candidate, Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar. He turned around and started condemning the exercise he participated in. Those other governors are following him for whatever reason, but it can never be for the national interest. So, how then are they an integrity group?
“They can make any claim and say whatever they like but I believe and I have often said it, they can still reverse and join their colleagues in the family. PDP is a very big family that can accommodate every one of us. Their defection even though they have not made any pronouncement, will do them no good because we are winning the 2023 elections. The only thing that can happen is that if we were to win with say nine million votes, it might reduce to six million votes but as for winning the election, it is a concluded matter,” he said.
The Atiku/Okowa campaign organisation spokesman dismissed the claim by Governor Wike that former President Jonathan begged Atiku in London in 2014 to support him which he (Atiku) refused. He said such stories cannot hold water because nobody was there to tell exactly what transpired.
“Even Wike who is making the claim was not there with them so how can he speak of what he was not a party to? The visit of our Vice Presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to the former President and he addressed him as incoming Vice President shows that he (former President Jonathan) is with us. I mean he has endorsed the Atiku/Okowa ticket and I can assure you he is working for our great party and candidate.”
Bwala accused the leader of G5 governors of being the architect of too many crises in the party. He said it was Wike who chased away the former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, from the party before the primary.
“Governor Wike has been a source of our crises. He chased away Peter Obi, Governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and Ben Ayade of Cross River State. He made so many people uncomfortable at the party. He removed the former national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus because of his ambition. He has been nursing the presidential ambition before now. It was because he was in the race that Atiku joined. Atiku said severally that if the ticket was zoned to the South East, he would not contest it because it is only the South East and North East that are yet to produce a president of the country. But because of selfish interest, the same governors who are now claiming integrity threw it open.
“Some people call Wike an Igbo man but he has said severally that he is not an Igbo man. Knowing full well that if it is zoned to the south, it would be micro-zoned to the South East, they decided it should be open to everyone who wanted to contest. That was how our candidate Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar, joined the race and won in a landslide fashion. The record must be put straight.”
Recently, a PDP stalwart Bode George, who hosted the meeting of the integrity group in his house in Lagos, reiterated their resolve to have the crisis solved but maintained that the way out of the quagmire is a total return to the party’s policy of zoning the six top positions.
“The zoning policy of our party has been messed up. We cannot be talking about resolving the matter without returning to the root cause. We are saying it can be resolved; however, it has to be total. There are six top positions that our constitution says must be zoned. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Chairman. Any zone that takes the first odd number the other zone takes the last even number, that is, the Presidential candidate and the national chairman. But the north for now has taken both.”
The PDP chieftain further stated that the party is cruising in a very wrong lane as the South West was shut out of the campaign’s top positions.
“The Director General is from the north, the National Chairman is from the north, the candidate is of the northern extraction. Where are we? What will I tell my people in the South West? That they should wait until Atiku wins the election? This is not right and we are insisting that the right thing can still be done. It’s not too late after all every political party has issues, what matters is the ability to resolve the issues and I believe we can still resolve ours in PDP but it must be addressed to the root cause.”
Another party chieftain from the South who preferred anonymity told The Point that what is happening in PDP is karma. He said when the north enjoyed it as it lasted in 2014/15 they didn’t know a time like this would come.
“We must be careful of what we do and say. In 2014 it was Jonathan, today it is Atiku. The same Atiku who joined in bankrolling the campaign of President Buhari of APC against former president Jonathan of PDP is in the eyes of a storm. The big question is, what has happened to that principle that made it mandatory for power to return to the north even when a southerner was on the seat? By May 29, 2023, President Buhari would have completed eight years’ share of the north. He is not there as a North West. If we were honest with ourselves and the country, we would have zoned it to the south then micro zone it to the South East. But greed and selfishness beclouded our decision and now our party has fallen apart. Forget what anyone is claiming, no party loses five governors in an election year and claims all is well.
“My worry is that Nigerians are passing through difficult times. They had hoped that our party would rescue them but with what is happening, the dream might not be realized. We will end up creating avenues for other candidates to win the election. I listened to one of the party chieftains, Bode George when he spoke on the way forward and I want to align with him. Unless we attack the root cause of this crisis, we will not make headway because dancing around the truth will not solve it. Some positions must be swapped. No excuses whatsoever and time is running out.”
“An opposition party that should do everything to endear itself in the hearts of the suffering masses of the country is busy fighting avoidable intra-party war. Before it settles down, it would have lost control of some of its strongholds”
Political analyst, Abu Abdul, described what is happening in PDP as normal. He said such crises crop up after the party’s primaries leading to the general election but what matters most is the ability to resolve it.
“I am not surprised. It is not only in PDP, go to APC, Labour Party, APGA, SDP, there are pockets of crises. If you recall, it took the APC some time to set up its Presidential Campaign Council, the same as LP. What was the reason for crises over which zone gets what? So I still believe that the party can come together before the election. Two months is enough time to sort out things. Those who are singing the victory song should watch it because a lot will happen. During elections, the game is calculated. Politicians add and subtract and I tell you it is already ongoing.”
Abdul warned that the G5 governors or integrity group’s agitation if condoned will do more harm than good because when allowed to stay, it will also spark controversies in the future.
“Today Governor Wike and his group are claiming that their party presidential candidate encouraged this eight years ago. Wike, while making reference, said they’re not asking Atiku not to contest as he (Atiku) and the G7 did in 2015 by asking Jonathan not to contest after he had won the primary. He said that resisting a situation in one section of the country will corner all the positions thereby jettisoning the party principle of rotation because of one man’s ambition. The PDP should put their house in order or remain in the opposition. One thing is basic, the integrity group will certainly influence the outcome of the 2023 election result, particularly, the presidential. Remember, technologies will be deployed and INEC has continually assured that votes will count. The election in 2015 was a two-horse race but the forthcoming presidential election is an open field. So, for a party to toy with its stronghold is terrible.”
Eze Okike, a lawyer and social critic, summed up the matter by saying they are the same people. “Whether in PDP, APC, or whatever party, the politicians are always selfish and looking for how and who to outsmart. The crop of politicians we have been having in this country never for once put the country first but you will always hear them claim to do whatever they have done for the country. The crisis in PDP now is a result of greed and selfishness and one outsmarting the other. An opposition party that should do everything to endear itself in the hearts of suffering masses of the country is busy fighting an avoidable intra-party war. Before it settles down, they would have lost control of some of their strongholds.
“Don’t be surprised if you hear that some governors of APC may be warming up to mobilize for either Atiku or Obi same with some governors of PDP outside the G5 may be mobilizing for Obi and Tinubu or even Kwankwaso. This is politics and politicians are on top of their game. My take is that the G5 governors will, to a large extent, influence the result of the forthcoming presidential polls.”
