It’s injustice for North to want to rule Nigeria perpetually – Yakassai
No zoning arrangement for Bayelsa West senatorial district, youths insist
Convention: APC yet to begin screening of aspirants
There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, is assailed from many fronts with a myriad of daunting challenges ahead of the 2023 general elections, particularly with regard to next year’s presidential race.
And so, the germane question as the country heads towards the 2023 general elections remains whether the PDP will eventually scale the many hurdles continuously being placed on its way by the various political players and interests.
Of course, the PDP is being tipped by many Nigerians to take over from the ruling All Progressives Congress believed in many quarters to have, in the past six years, inflicted a lot of pains on the citizenry, leaving many Nigerians disappointed and inclined to dismiss the party as a total failure.
But findings by our correspondent revealed that the main opposition PDP itself is swimming in crises now threatening to drown it, a situation political pundits fear could jeopardise the party’s chances in 2023, if not well managed in the run-up to the polls.
Zoning arrangement crisis
Among the major problems faced by the party is the explosive issue of zoning arrangement, which has to do with the region that must produce the nation’s next president.
PDP is known as the party that orchestrated the zoning formula when Nigeria returned to a democratic government in 1999.
The formula, though not embedded in the nation’s constitution, is believed to be the easiest way to manage power-sharing and allow peace and unity to reign between the major regions in the country.
According to the party leadership, the zoning formula allows the South to produce the President of the country for two terms and then shift the power to the North to produce the President.
The arrangement was indirectly adopted by the ruling APC, which produced President Muhammadu Buhari from the North in 2015. However, having ruled with Buhari in power for two terms, the North is expected to allow the power to swing back to the South in the spirit of unity.
And this has been the demand by major stakeholders in the country. But contrary to this, some stalwarts in the party from the North appear to be defiant of the arrangement, a development analysts believe will divide the party ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Among the Northerners that have indicated their interest in the 2023 presidency are former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal; and a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
But the South, from all indications, is not likely to settle for any other topmost political office in the land lower than the Presidency in 2023 and the region is leaving no stone unturned to achieve this. In the PDP, among those warming up for the number one political office are Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Udom Emmanuel; former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi and former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim.
Piqued by the insistence of this tribe of Northern politicians in the PDP to pick the party’s presidential ticket, Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, warned that their stance and attempt to be defiant of the zoning arrangement could result in serious consequences for them, including the disintegration of the country.
According to Clark, “Firstly, I wish to use this medium to advise my most respected Peoples Democratic Party chieftains in the persons of former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar; former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, and other PDP aspirants from the North, that in the interest of maintaining the unity of this country to which they have contributed so much, to re-consider their desire of wanting to contest for the presidential election in 2023, because both by the PDP constitution and by convention, it is now the turn of Southern Nigeria to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023, after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years. To do otherwise is to invite chaos, which will lead to the disintegration of our dear country.
“Zoning has been practised in the nation’s polity even before Independence. When Tafawa Balewa, in 1954, was the prime minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe was the governor-general.
“Zoning of political offices, particularly the Presidency of the country, is the best antidote to the breakup of Nigeria, and the panacea for peace and unity of the country.
The elder statesman also recalled, “One of the reasons why the North opposed Chief Anthony Enahoro’s motion for independence in 1953 was that they felt they were not equal to the South in education; that they were not in a position to produce proportional candidates who will run an independent government with the South because at that time, they had only about four graduates.
“They subsequently walked out of the Parliament, went back to the North, and swore never to return to Lagos again.
“That was what led to the constitutional conferences held both at the Lancaster House in London and at Ibadan, Nigeria, purposely to keep Nigeria one.
“The impression was that no one group, or section of the country, should dominate the government of Nigeria at the expense of other parts of the country.”
Clark further argued, “It is instructive that the nation’s two main parties, the APC and the PDP, have been religiously following the zoning and rotation system between the North and the South.
“By 2023, the North would have ruled for another eight years. It is, therefore, rational, and right, to insist that the Presidency should rotate to the South. It does not matter whether the president has been produced from the APC or the PDP since 2015.”
“To which sub-region the presidency should be further zoned to in the south, is a different matter entirely. At the appropriate time, we will decide as to which area, section or region of the three regions of South-East, South-South and South-West, should have it.
“As I have said earlier, I have observed with dismay, that some of my respected friends, especially, the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the distinguished former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan for contesting the presidential elections because they felt it was the turn of the North, are now wanting to contest for the Presidency under the PDP in 2023.
“They are already campaigning through the length and breadth of the country, even after a Northerner will be having a straight eight years, come May 2023.
“Is it no longer not a negation of the ‘zoning agreement,’ for which former President Goodluck Jonathan was castigated? Is it no longer threatening the unity and survival of the country?
“As the intention of these and others who may follow will be going against the zoning system of the PDP, it may even be the deciding factor for the PDP, whether to be or not to be.”
Rancour between old and new breeds
Amid the suspense surrounding the zoning of the 2023 presidential ticket, findings have revealed that a cold war has started brewing in the party between the camps of some members regarded as old and new breeds.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who is also regarded as one of the powerhouses of the party, is believed to be the arrowhead of the new breed who are currently questioning some decisions of the old breed led by the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
Some recent occurrences in the party had confirmed that Wike and the party chairman are not in good terms, especially on some decisions and moves being made by Ayu.
Though some party leaders are quick to caution Wike over the issues, the Rivers governor’s image appears to be looming large over the affairs of the party than can be imagined.
According to a source close to the party, one of the issues that had recently confirmed the disagreement between the duo was the recent visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta, Ogun State, residence by the PDP national chairman and some former governors.
Wike, who was annoyed by the move, had reportedly expressed reservation on the plan by Ayu to lead a delegation that would woo back Obasanjo to the PDP, on the grounds of his political differences with the former president.
“When Ayu disregarded Wike and went to Abeokuta, Ogun State but came back with a message that Obasanjo said he would never return to partisan politics, the governor said he was not surprised. He reportedly said the party was beginning to align with some forces that will be counterproductive to his vision of the PDP. So, a crisis of confidence is already brewing between Wike and Ayu,” the source said.
Another point of disagreement between them was said to be the attendance at a rally organised by the PDP to receive defectors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
Wike, who is believed to be nurturing a presidential ambition, was reportedly not comfortable that some ‘old’ PDP leaders were assembled by Ayu for the declaration, apparently to take a commanding position in the scheme of things.
Some former ministers, governors and other high profile politicians of the party graced the reception for the leader of the Lagos4Lagos group to the PDP, recently.
The source further claimed, “Secondly, Wike is not happy that when Ayu came to the Lagos4Lagos event in Lagos, he came with some former ministers and ex-governors, among them, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Senator Liyel Imoke, ex-governor Donald Duke, Kabiru Turaki and Dr Olusegun Mimiko.
“He believes Ayu is reawakening the old PDP and surrounding himself with old PDP elements. He complained bitterly.”
Due to the development, the governor was said to have constituted his foot soldiers and loyalists, who would defend his interest in the party.
“Wike has brought together some people and briefed them on how to tackle Ayu,” the source stated, adding that the fear in the camp of the governor is that Ayu’s attempt at reuniting influential members of the party ahead of coming elections would weaken his influence, especially given the belief that some of the old PDP stalwarts are perceived as part of the problems of the former ruling party.
Despite the fact that the former vice president has yet to formally announce his ambition, some stalwarts in the party have started to haul tirades at him, widening the cracks on the walls of the party
But Wike is believed to be a force that must not be underrated in the PDP, considering his calculative moves that threw up the party’s national leadership in the past, including the immediate national executive under the chairmanship of Prince Uche Secondus.
Atiku’s insistence on picking PDP presidential ticket, again
The fact that Former Vice-President Atiku Abubarkar may come out again for a presidential contest is another issue that has been generating crisis in PDP.
If the odds favour the North on the zoning of the presidential ticket, then Atiku is believed to be positioning himself to be a big joker to be used by the main opposition party. Despite the fact that the former vice president has yet to formally announce his ambition, some stalwarts in the party have started to haul tirades at him, widening the cracks on the walls of the party
For instance, a chieftain of the party from Edo State, Kassim Afegbua, who is also a former commissioner for information in the state, recently attacked Atiku, saying the party was not meant for the former vice president alone.
Afegbua, who was also a member of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council for the 2019 election, lashed out at Atiku, saying, “For me, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should quit his quest for presidency and support a southern Nigerian candidate in the spirit of fairness, equity and justice; that will assuage the feelings of stakeholders from the Southern part of Nigeria. It will be against the run of play and natural justice for any aspirant of Northern extraction to show interest in the 2023 presidential election within the Peoples’ Democratic Party threshold. It will offend national sentiments, emotions and logic for anyone from the North to show such interest, given our diversities and heterogeneous political configurations. Given PDP’s doctrine of political power balancing and fairness, it will be against its own unwritten rule to cede the ticket to any Northern aspirant, least of all, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“After the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar abandoned all of us in Nigeria and sought refuge in faraway Dubai, thus exposing us to the intimidations, harassment and threats posed by the desperate APC’s power oligarchs. It was a case of a General abandoning his troops in the battlefield. Rather than draw strength from his presence, his absence exposed us to all manner of challenges. He was in Dubai and left us to our fate. When it mattered most for us to reach out to our candidate for motivation and necessary encouragement, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar vanished into thin air. Knowing full well that political activities were to take off, he suddenly resurfaced and became a front liner in his quest to fly the party’s flag once again. That, to me, amounts to gross political selfishness and greed, which must not be allowed to flourish in our contemporary engagements. Even those who are promoters-in-chief of Alhaji Atiku’s aspiration, know in their heart of hearts that it is a project that is dead on arrival.”
Meanwhile, other supporters of the party have been asking questions on Atiku’s interest in the 2023 presidential race, saying he had had it all with his last appearance in 2019.
Oni and Fayose’s recurrent brawl in South-West
The fallout from this may turn out to be yet another thorny issue that the PDP must deal with in the run-up to the 2023 elections.
As it known that every party needs strength in all geopolitical zone to secure a foothold at the centre, so is the PDP. The brawl that ensued recently between the two former governors of Ekiti State is also another matter that needs a quick attention ahead of 2023.
Bisi Kolawole, Fayose’s anointed candidate had emerged the PDP candidate in the coming governorship election in the state scheduled for later this year.
But Oni, who was the first runner up in the contest, had accused Fayose of selling the party out to the ruling APC.
He also took a swipe at the PDP National Working Committee led by Iyorchia Ayu for having hurriedly ratified the outcome of the governorship primary election, which he alleged was conducted in shoddy and abysmal manner.
For now, the ongoing battle of wits between the Northern and Southern aspirants eyeing the PDP presidential ticket for next year’s election continues with the supporters of the different camps strategising and plotting to have the upper hand when the chips are eventually down
The former governor, who alleged that the outcome of the “flawed” PDP governorship primary in the state was orchestrated by Fayose to sell the party to the ruling APC, had said, “It is an open secret in Ekiti political circle that the PDP ticket handed over to Kolawole is a duplicate copy of the APC ticket, it won’t produce any useful result.
“It is a big shame that the PDP NWC could not see through this deception, but deliberately connived with Fayose to force Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel on the Ekiti process to achieve a predetermined hatchet job.”
But Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, dismissed the allegations, saying, “The PDP has produced a governorship candidate in the person of Kolawole. Those who had issues with the conduct of the primary had made presentations to the appeal panel. The panel has affirmed the result of the primary election.
“If anybody is saying another thing, he is on his own. The level now is that we wish and feel that everybody in the PDP, including Engr Segun Oni, will work together to ensure the victory of our candidate.
“Kolawole went to Oni’s house at Ifaki Ekiti on Thursday and was told that he was not at home. Our candidate has visited other aspirants; we are talking to our people so that all of us can come together and win this election for PDP and for the people of Ekiti State.
“But anybody saying any other thing outside that is on his own. We know those who have remained in PDP and those who have moved in and out of PDP. We know those who were among the people who rigged PDP out in 2018.”
The ripple effects of the ongoing Ekiti PDP crisis and similar crises in other state chapters, political watchers say, may be felt negatively by the party during the 2023 general elections, if nothing is urgently done to resolve them now.
But for now, the ongoing battle of wits between the Northern and Southern aspirants eyeing the PDP presidential ticket for next year’s election continues with the supporters of the different camps strategising and plotting to have the upper hand when the chips are eventually down.
