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With the approval of sub-committees for its National Convention by the National Convention Planning Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled to hold on August 17, 2016, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the die appears to have been cast for the coveted number one seat of Nigeria’s main opposition party, but signs are that ferocious storm from Ali Modu Sheriff, factional leader of the party may further assail the umbrella party.
“Under the law, Ali Modu Sheriff can still cause trouble for us”, says Dotun Hasssan, president, Yoruba Youths Council (YYC), who is also a lawyer and a member of the PDP, adding “We have a mixed bag of legal situation. The PDP convention has brought a lot of concerns to the judiciary. Judges have brought contempt to judicial environment. The Chief Justice of the Federation is the only one that can save the situation now. The mistake of the Makarfi-led PDP is going to hurt them at this critical point in time. Sheriff can still render the August 17 Convention useless”.
Sheriff was sacked by a nullified convention in the same Port Harcourt on May 21, and was replaced with a caretaker chairman, Ahmed Makarfi, from Kaduna State and a former presidential adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, alongside Ben Obi, who was elected secretary of the caretaker committee, with the mandate to manage the affairs of the party for three months.
A Federal High Court in Lagos had a day earlier restrained the PDP from conducting elections into the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor of the party, and also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from monitoring the conduct of any election into the affected offices.
Thereafter, there have been several judicial pronouncements and counter pronouncements, with both sides daring Court Orders by laying claim to two parallel conventions which resulted in the emergence of Makarfi in Port Harcourt and Ibrahim Mantu and Tunde Adeniran in Abuja as co-chairmen.
But Sheriff on his part has insisted that the only way the crisis could be averted lies on the decision of Makarfi-led caretaker committee to throw in the towel and join his faction which, he claims, is the authentic PDP, and asked Makarfi to nominate 10 persons while he will also nominate 10 persons to form a convention.
But with the Makarfi-led faction zoning the PDP chairmanship position to the South-West, regional politicking heightened penultimate week, particularly, in Lagos, the domain of Bode George, a front runner, Ekiti and Ondo States where PDP governors are in charge; even as party loyalists expressed concern that the number of aspirants jostling for the position may further do more harm than good, if a consensus is not reached before urgently.
In the race alongside the ex-Custom boss and former chairman of PDP in the region are: Jimi Agbaje, PDP’s governorship candidate in Lagos State in the 2015 election; Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun State; Tunde Adeniran, a former minister of Education, among others.
A group of political leaders in Ekiti State, under the aegis of Ekiti Integrity Forum, has already thrown its weight behind Adeniran, for the PDP chairmanship position. In a statement by Dayo Olanrewaju, its spokesperson, the group said: “Without mincing words, if you check the records, Adeniran stands tall among the contestants.”
Pundits are of the view that Bode George may steal the show with his huge and robust contacts and influence. He was quoted to have said he would not step down for new comers, one of which is incidentally, his own political son.
On his part, Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist-turned politician, has already promised to lead the party back to winning ways if elected chairman at the Port Harcourt convention.
He told journalists shortly after he picked the nomination forms at the party’s headquarters in Abuja that as a candidate who does not belong to any of the factions, he stands a better chance to unite all the contending forces in the party.
He told journalists shortly after he picked the nomination forms at the party’s headquarters in Abuja that as a candidate who does not belong to any of the factions, he stands a better chance to unite all the contending forces in the party.
“We accept that mistakes were made in the past in the PDP, especially with our internal democracy. So we have to go back to the position of the founding fathers of our party on internal democracy. We have to go back to our constitution. That is very important. We have to be more all-inclusive as we have been thus far. It is about bringing people nearer rather than sending them far away from the party. Everybody must feel to be part of this party.
“What I bring to the table is that 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 that opposition as an alternative government and in a responsible manner,” he said.
But with the South-West caucus of the PDP narrowing the race by zoning the chair slot to Lagos and Ogun states, Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun State, is also a candidate of interest, with the influence and contacts to pull a surprise; unless he is asked to step down in a consensus arrangement.
To this effect, the south-west caucus has set up a six-man committee to be chaired by Yekinni Adeojo, a former governorship aspirant in Oyo State to meet with the three aspirants from Lagos and Ogun with the view to coming up with a consensus candidate for the coveted position.
But Dotun Hassan told BDSUNDAY that the PDP needs someone with a wider scope of experience, who can take the party beyond antagonistic opposition politicking, a wider scope of reason and who can proffer alternative solutions to the mirage of problems confronting the nation.
“We need a person without a tainted record as far as Yoruba leadership is concerned. We value integrity so much in the south western region. Whoever we are nominating from the region must be somebody above board. We need a chairman who can play a brother’s keeper position in order not to aggravate the polity. We need someone who can come with solution, not just telling us the ailment,” he said.
He advised that the party endorse a level playing field where all candidates can prove their popularity; rather than engage in imposition of candidate for whatever reason, saying that the Port Harcourt convention will go a long way in deciding whether Nigerians would take the PDP serious or not.
Ebenezer Babatope, a chieftain of the PDP, told BDSUNDAY that Jimi Agbaje cannot stand in the way of Bode George’s road to Wadata House, and that the Lagos chapter of the PDP is solidly behind George.
He said: “I am not contesting but my friend Bode George is contesting. We have all agreed that the consensus candidate should be Bode George. I am not aware that Fayose said that Bode is too old to lead the PDP. That information may not be very correct”.
When asked about Jimi Agbaje’s interest in the race, he said: “When did he join the PDP? He joined two years ago. Is that the person that should now stand in the way of a Bode George who has laboured over the years for the PDP? You cannot put the cart before the horse. The leaders of the party in the south-west have done the correct thing by endorsing Bode George.
“I can assure you that we are okay. Sheriff won’t be able to stop us from moving forward. Bode George has the capacity to unite all the warring members of the party. He is our ideal choice for the position. The PDP is ready to provide the right opposition that Nigerians have been yearning for. We are not bothered by the factions at all because all will soon come to the fold. As the captain of ship, I can assure you that Bode George will lead us to glory.”
NATHANIEL AKHIGBE
