- Godfather, son on collision course …shun old sentiments
- Who we prefer – Party leaders
Barely two weeks after the Supreme Court resolved the leadership logjam in the Peoples Democratic Party, the opposition party may be warming up for another political drama that may undermine its fragile unity.
The real threat to a united PDP, this time, according to findings by The Point, is the leadership tussle between a godfather and his godson, both from Lagos State.
A former National Deputy Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, and the party’s former governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, are now at loggerheads over the chairmanship position of the PDP, expected to be at the party’s convention, scheduled for August 12.
George was a godfather to Agbaje in the 2015 governorship contest, during which he helped the latter to defeat a much-favoured Musiliu Obanikoro to become the PDP standard-bearer.
But now, George is pitched against Agbaje in a battle of wits for the chairmanship seat of the party.
Recall that the PDP had only just managed to come together, following a 14-month legal battle between Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Modu Sheriff over who the authentic chairman of the party was.
The Supreme Court finally put an end to the charade two weeks ago, when it declared Makarfi as the rightful claimant to the national chairmanship seat.
FURORE OVER ZONING RULE
Already, the National Working Committee of the party has zoned the position of national chairman to the South, after which they have also agreed on zoning the presidential slot to the North.
An impeccable source at the Wadata House secretariat of the party in Abuja told our correspondent that at a private meeting convened shortly before the Makarfi/Sheriff imbroglio began, the party elders resolved to further zone the position to the South-West, after which two states – Lagos and Ogun – were favoured to produce the national chairman.
Leveraging on the initial zoning formula, some contestants have signified interest in jostling for the chairmanship seat.
Among them are a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; a member of the party’s Board of Trustees, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja; Prince Uche Secondus, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, George and Agbaje.
At the last count, however, three candidates, namely: George, Agbaje and Dokpesi, were left in the race with a clear indication that the others have stepped down.
Informed sources within the party told The Point at the weekend that, while Dokpesi is under pressure to back out, all eyes are now on George and Agbaje, the godfather and godson, to square up against each other, come August 12.
Party sources, however, expressed concern that the contest between George and Agbaje has now polarised the party into two camps.
“The situation, if not well managed, will lead to another ‘war’, like we had between Sheriff and Makarfi. Already, the party is divided in the South-West between George and Agbaje’s camps. Some states like Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti are strongly behind George, while some in other South-West states, who believe George will be rigid in the office, prefer Agbaje,” a party chieftain said.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that George had begun moves to block necessary links that Agbaje could use to checkmate him.
In Lagos State, the party leader is said to have moved for an alliance with some of the state party executives, who were against him for supporting Agbaje’s candidacy in the last governorship election in the state.
It was also said that the former national deputy chairman had begun a deft move to seek favour in the five states of the South-West zone.
Findings from Ekiti State revealed that underground work was ongoing by the party stalwarts on who to support for the race.
The Public Relations Officer of the state chapter of the party, Mr. Jackson Adebayo, said that, at its recent meeting, the party instructed members, especially those in the state working committee, to await the directives of the party leaders on who to support in the race, especially from the South West.
“We are not working against anybody and we are not working for anybody at present. We will only do so on the directive of our leaders. I am not aware of anything like some members of the party being contacted. Today was our committee meeting and we have not taken any position as at now because we are still waiting for our leaders,” he said.
Meanwhile, stalwarts of the party in Ondo State are said to have moved in support of George, who was at a time the military governor of the state.
A party member in the state, Adeyemo Kamorudeen, said, “We are all in support of Chief Bode George and we are not leaving any stone unturned. Already, our leaders have begun moves and we believe that Chief George has all it takes to restore the glory of the party.”
The Ondo State chapter of the party, when contacted, corroborated Kamorudeen, saying George would always enjoy their backing in the race for the chairmanship of the PDP as he was not a stranger to the state chapter of the party.
Spokesman for the Ondo chapter of the PDP, Chief Ayo Fadaka, said, “George is not a stranger to PDP in Ondo State. But for now, we (have) yet to declare support for anyone. It is when the contest is open and people begin to campaign that we will say this is the fellow we are backing for that position. It will be premature for us to say that it is this person we are backing, or not.”
In Oyo State, the chapter seems determined to support one of its own, Chief Taoreed Adedoja, who hails from the state. They also argue that Bode George has to prove his worth, even if the leaders of the party will later support his candidacy.
“He has not come to Oyo; anybody who wants to be national chairman will come and ask for our vote. He has not approached us. We are aware that he wants to be national chairman but he has not come to approach us. He has not come to tell us what we will benefit from his office or his manifestoes. For now, since the Supreme Court thing, no one has approached the leader,” a party chieftain said.
Meanwhile, some of the party bigwigs across the nation have declared their support for their respective candidates.
For instance, a PDP chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, gave credence to the chairmanship ambition of George.
Babatope, a former director of organisation in the defunct Obafemi Awolowo-led Unity Party of Nigeria, said he was fully in support of George’s ambition.
He described the former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority as the best man for the vacant national chairmanship slot of the PDP, “based on his fatherly figure.”
He said, “I am giving my full support for the chairmanship position to George because he is the most experienced. George being my choice does not, however, have overriding opinion over other members of the party; everybody is welcome to support the candidates of their choice.
“I am picking George because of his experience as a party faithful; one who will ensure reconciliation of all aggrieved members of the party. Experience is the best teacher.”
BODE GEORGE
The Lagos State-born retired naval officer is one of the founding fathers of the PDP, who is seen by many as a good candidate for the office of the party chairman.
The man, who has sacrificed so much for the party in the past, is understood to have his support base among the “real owners of the party”, who are said to be interested in re-organising the PDP along the line of thoughts of the founding fathers, whose ideology was said to be based on equity, justice and fairness.
It was gathered that some governors, especially from the North, and about two from the South, had argued in favour of George because of his experience.
Some of his supporters have also argued that he remains the best candidate for the job from the South-West, where the position has been zoned, by the leaders of the party from the South.
Though, some of his traducers have raised some allegations against him, majority of which have not been proved, George had at different times expressed his desire to see a capable personality occupy the office of the PDP national chairman.
Speaking on his desire to be chairman, he said, “It is not a matter of life and death. There’s a season for everything. If the people decide on who they want as their national chairman, I will agree. They know what they want. I will abide by their decision.
“But we need someone who is capable of leading the party. We need someone who has friends across the nation. We need someone who the members of the ruling party can respect as well. The other zones are bringing in seasoned administrators to run the party and we, the pacesetters, shouldn’t come with our second eleven.”
George was one of the very few who stood against the plans by some persons to deny the South West the opportunity of getting the national chairmanship position zoned to it.
He said, “On the issue of the national chairmanship of the party, based on the spirit of equity and fairness, which is the foundation and principle upon which our party was built by our founding fathers, the South-West deserves the national chairmanship now. This is the right and proper thing. The South-West is a significant zone for the Nigerian Federation, which cannot and must not be treated with levity.”
George’s support base is widely distributed. He appeals to a large collection of party members from the north, who in most cases, give bloc votes to adopted candidates. He is most likely to get a bloc vote from the north.
He also has a sound appeal among the southerners, being a key figure in the leadership structure of the party in the south in general since 1998.
Majority of party members see in him a man committed to the cause of the party, as he has never left its fold since inception, even when he ran into troubled water with former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
JIMI AGBAJE
The governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos State in the last election is a successful pharmacist, who has also made his mark in politics.
Though a student of the Bola Tinubu School of politics, he, however, fell out with the “progressives,” when he was denied the opportunity of picking the governorship ticket of the defunct Action Congress, following a disagreement with leaders of the party.
Profiling his personal sojourn into politics, Agbaje noted that he never planned specifically to go into it as a full-time player, but was drawn by circumstance.
“It had to do with the Moshood Abiola/Bashir Tofa presidential election. I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on the Nigerian people. This led to my first entry into what I would call activism, working with other concerned professionals such as Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Ayo Ighodaro, Asue Ighodalo, Billy Lawson, Oby Ezekwesili, Tola Mobolurin and Hassan Odukale,” he recalled.
Agbaje was in one form of resistance group or the other, which ultimately led him to join the socio-political organisation, Afenifere, where he served as national treasurer.
Based on his affiliation with Afenifere, Agbaje, together with other leaders, founded the defunct Alliance for Democracy – his first political party, in 1998, and stayed in its fold until the party transmuted to the defunct Action Congress, where his first attempt to contest for the governor of Lagos State was truncated.
He was among the 11 aspirants that turned their back on the AC, when it was alleged that the then governor Bola Tinubu had already anointed someone else to succeed him, even before the party primaries.
He left the party to join the Democratic Peoples Alliance, where he contested for governor but lost to Babatunde Raji Fashola, the AC candidate.
He was one of the opposition candidates in the election also contested by other major contenders – Musiliu Obanikoro of the PDP and Femi Pedro of the Labour Party.
Sometime in mid-2014, Agbaje defected from the DPA to PDP, after a long uncovered flirtation with LP, which he was considering as a party of choice for his governorship ambition. On October 29, 2014, he officially indicated his interest in giving the Lagos State gubernatorial elections another shot by picking up the PDP nomination form and was said to have enjoyed the strong backing of Chief Bode George to emerge as the strongest contender for the PDP ticket.
The influence of Bode George in making him the PDP governorship candidate caused a big crisis in the party as his emergence was considered a hit below the belt for Obanikoro, a former minister of state for defence, and another hot contender for the ticket, who wielded a considerable level of influence in the party.
His major strength, according to close contacts, lies in the support being given to him by some governors who see in him, mild youthfulness, which meets their opinion of who should be the national chairman of the party.
Assessing himself for the office, Agbaje said, “I am a candidate who does not belong to any of the factions in the party”, adding that he stood a better chance to unite all the contending forces in the party.
“I am not a member of any faction or any tendencies. I am in a position to talk to everybody, to ensure that if you love the PDP, then it is time to come back to the zone.
“I will appeal to those who feel very strongly to join us, because Nigeria cannot make the progress it deserves without a viable opposition, and that, PDP is going to provide, as an alternative government and in a responsible manner.”
