PDP convention:It’s
ego war
By CHIDI OBINECHE
Friday, February 29, 2008
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Yar’Adua
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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For the first time since the forced exit of the second chairman
of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2002, Chief
Barnabas Gemade, the party is set for election of officers
on March 8.
The road to this convention is strewn with thorns, with the
troops belching fire.
For the acclaimed largest party in Africa, this convention
is a make or mar one.
Across the six geo-political zones, the gladiators are fine-tuning
their strategies for an all-out victory. This is understandable
because of the array of contending forces, and their do or
die politics.
After eight years in power, a democratic convention has become
a testy issue, a divisive tendency tearing the party apart.
The convention may finally provide the platform for the eventual
reconciliation of the antagonistic groups within the party,
which has defied healing by the reconciliation committee earlier
instituted and which was headed by former Vice President Alex
Ekwueme.
A good attraction to the convention is that it promises to
throw its door open to disenchanted returnees who were hauled
out of the party by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in
his bid to take full control of the party.
It is also a good litmus test for President Umar Musa Yar’Adua,
who, since assumption of office, has sought to impress Nigerians.
So far, he has become the advocate for due process, rule of
law and equity.
The forthcoming national convention is markedly different
from the presidential primaries, as the diadem may not go
to the highest bidder. However, it has all the trappings of
a showdown. Pitted against each other are two main groups:
One which wants a continuation of the status quo and a reformist
group. Leading the pack of the former is Obasanjo, controversial
chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT). He is ably assisted
by the outgoing National Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd),
his deputy, Commodore Olabode George (retd), who are Obasanjo’s
juniors in the military. Ibadan maverick politician, Alhaji
Lamidi Adedibu, provides the jungle base for the actualisation
of their ‘war’ plans.
The reformists, a.k.a. G21, led by the immediate past Senate
President, Chief Ken Nnamani, believe the party is on the
fast lane to doom with Obasanjo and his group serving as undertakers.
They believe that the PDP wants to adopt its old ways and
tradition of imposition.
The beginning
Fresh from prison in Jos, in 1998, Obasanjo was drafted into
politics by a strong military political cabal and eventually
became the standard bearer of the party, edging out Dr. Alex
Ekwueme, who, before then had a firm grip on the party as
a presidential frontrunner. He was an outsider, without any
known structure in the party. Soon, he moved swiftly to hijack
the party machinery, shoving aside all the founding fathers,
including Ekwueme, and the first chairman, Solomon Lar. As
a military General, he went to war with strategies that ensured
that the party was under his feet within one year.
He began with the liquidation of the party caucus. Olusola
Saraki, Second Republic Senate leader, said he was taken aback
when he realised that unlike in the Second Republic when Shehu
Shagari worked harmoniously with the powerful party caucus
headed by the late Chief Adisa Akinloye, Obasanjo preferred
to run a solo-show, brooking neither counsels nor challenges.
With the party caucus in his kitty, Obasanjo moved further
to seize the National Executive Committe (NEC) of the party,
foisting his preferences and cronies on the party, like a
dictator.
In a jiffy, Barnabas Gemade, who resisted the backward change
got the boot. His exit signalled the end of democratic succession
in the party.
“There has not been any election in the PDP since the
days of Chief Barnabas Gemade, the second chairman of the
party. It has been a case of one favoured candidate after
the other,” said Lawan Farouk, leader of Integrity Group,
the House of Representatives group which threw out the imposed
Speaker, Patricia Etteh, out of office, and one of the leaders
of G21.
When Gemade kissed the dust, Obasanjo’s search party
fished out Audu Ogbeh, Second Republic communications minister,
who at that time, had just a passing interest in the affairs
of the party, and imposed him on the party as chairman.
Relishing the democratic tradition of the Second Republic,
where he was an active player, Ogbe soon fell out with Obasanjo,
after he had assisted in returning him to power for a second
term.
Obasanjo, as a warlord, was all the time at loggerheads with
the National Assembly, the founding fathers of the party and
some dissenting members of the party leadership. The party
was engulfed in crises, through and through to the grassroots
as state and local government chairmen were also imposed.
Taking a cue from him, loyal governors of the PDP bloc, systematically
turned to tin gods and imposition was the game .
With this, division in the party reared it ugly head, as pro
and anti-Obasanjo forces were at each other’s throat.
This affected good governance, as Obasanjo rebuffed genuine
advice on the drift in the state of affairs. So much was the
attrition that the then chairman of BOT, Chief Tony Anenih,
acquired the alias ‘Mr. Fix It.’
Pushed to the wall, Ogbeh, who doubled as agriculture adviser,
went into battle and fired at Obasanjo. It was during the
presidency-backed abduction of Anambra State governor, Dr.
Chris Ngige by forces loyal to Obasanjo. Ogbeh resisted the
infamy and wrote Obasanjo. Within weeks, he was kicked out
and replaced by Ali, in an exercise of affirmation. Ali and
Obasanjo had a cordial relationship dating back to the days
when he worked under him as education minister, in the military
era. Under his leadership, the NEC of the party has been loyal,
not to the party, but to Obasanjo, even out of power.
Most of the 36 state chairmen of the party were also handpicked
by affirmation and imposed on the party. In some states, parallel
chairmen emerged to protest the undemocratic procedure, but
were soon crushed.
An incensed Nnamani, while in the saddle as Senate president,
urged party faithful to re-examine the concept of loyalty.
He said loyalty to Obasanjo had impeded loyalty to the party
that midwifed the government.
Party officers, under Ali became mere errand boys of Obasanjo,
who used them at will, to frustrate the ambition of his political
opponents. Where they failed, the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), filled the gap.
Farouk summarize the scenario this way: “Most of the
election disputes at the election petition tribunals are borne
out of the total disregard for internal democracy within the
political parties, especially PDP.”
Stretching the undemocratic culture further, the Ali-led NEC
disregarded the rules of natural justice, equity and good
conscience. Winners of governorship primaries were denied
the ticket if they were not in the good books of Obasanjo.
Faced with these challenges, those pushing for a change believe
that only a NEC, truly elected by the people, can discharge
its responsibilities without fear or favour, with full accountability
to the party.
The road to the convention
On two occasions, the NEC of the party fixed dates for the
convention but they were aborted, so fixing a new date through
the backdoor became herculean.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which
many alleged has been under the armpit of Obasanjo, cancelled
the scheduled congresses and convention of the party, citing
the violation of Section 84 (1) of the Electoral Act 2006,
which mandates political parties to give the commission a
21-day notice before commencing congresses.
In a letter dated November 7, 2007, INEC chairman drew the
attention of the party leadership to the illegality and inherent
dangers in allowing it.
“It is illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
There is no need for them to waste their funds or time. It
came to our notice that the PDP is holding ward congresses.
We want to follow due process. Nobody is allowed to conduct
primaries without consulting the INEC or notifying us. Any
such exercise should be cancelled,” he told anxious
reporters.
Reinforcing his boss’ position, INEC Commissioner for
Information and Publicity, Chief Philip Vmeadi Jnr, put it
more succinctly: “One of the major challenges during
the last election was that of party democracy as it affected
the imposition of candidates. This time, we must put our feet
on ground and follow due process.”
The schemes
To up the ante in the search for true internal democracy in
the party, the G21 emerged on the block to serve as a counter
poise to the designs of the Obasanjo group. The group’s
calculation was that to attain a free and fair convention,
devoid of impositions, Obasanjo must be removed as chairman
of the BOT. They pushed for a constitution amendment, via
a letter to Ali for NEC deliberations. While the lead was
hot, a national party caucus met hurriedly at the Aso Villa,
and again, it was Obasanjo who smiled away with the help of
Yar’Adua, his political godson and Ali.
A notice of the proposed constitution amendment (2006 PDP
constitution) was signed by Nnamani, Alhaji Bello Masari,
former House of Representatives Speaker, Senator Bode Olajumoke,
Chief Alani Bankole, father of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and Ibrahim Bunu.
Others are Senator John Brambaifa, Musa Adede, Abdul Audu,
Bawa Bwari, Abdul Ningi, Fanta Baba, Farouk Lawan and Musa
Elayi.
Ali referred them to the provisions of Section 26(2) of the
party constitution, which states that any proposal for constitution
amendment should come two months to the date of the convention.
The agitators were kept in the dark on the convention date,
a situation that finally took the wind out of their sail.
When the date finally came, it coincided with the date of
their proposal.
Speaker Dimeji Bankole, whose father was one of the signatories,
was hounded out of the party caucus meeting at the villa by
Ali. Vocal PDP chieftains, including returnee Abubakar Rimi,
asked Obasanjo to step down voluntarily. Ditto for Godwin
Daboh, who accused the former president of corruption.
Another bigwig of the party and chairmanship aspirants, Chief
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu last year, reportedly deflated the BOT
chairmanship. He said, it was primarily advisory.
To those opposed to Obasanjo, he is the single most destabilising
factor in the party, who inflicted it with the virus of imposition,
godfatherism and dictatorship.
Yar’Adua, who is ever cautious, anchors his agenda for
the convention on due process and rule of law.
The reformists’ agenda
Lawan puts it this way: “We will no longer stay aloof
and watch the agenda of a few party members continue to dwarf
the commitment of the larger group. If we must deepen democracy,
we should start it in the PDP by ensuring internal democracy
because we are the biggest party in the country.”
The group, which is backed by the influential Integrity Group
of the House of Representatives, is also seeking for a level-playing
field for all candidates. Setting further its vision for the
party, the reformists contend that if the next chairman is
a product of a free, fair and transparent election, he would
have a mind of his own, protect party constitution, and give
the party a new image and leverage.
As part of the group’s commitment to the agenda, Nnamani
had threatened legal redress if transparency was thrown overboard
at the convention.
The intrigues and arm twisting
First, was the purported plot to shift the convention to Ibadan,
the political capital of the South-west, where Lamidi Adedibu
reigns supreme.
Without proper brief on the intention, Adedibu flatly rejected
the call, citing logistics problems. The choice of Adamu Ciroma,
a nonagenarian elder statesman and a founding father of the
party as convention election panel chairman by Yar’Adua
has created deep gulf with the power hierarchy of the party.
Ciroma’s choice provided a breather for the reformists
group, who were stung with the appointment of Olabode George,
an Obasanjo acolyte, as head of the convention planning committee.
Sources say, Yar’Adua raised the panel to soothe frayed
nerves and assure aggrieved party members that the convention
will not be fraudulent.
Remarkably, Ciroma is taking on the assignment at a time many
feel he has an axe to grind with Obasanjo. He is perceived
as a man with integrity, who cannot fall for any filthy lucre.
His presence confirms, in no mean measure, a presidential
intention to reposition the party. Already, the panel is in
conflict with George’s committee, with both setting
up parallel sub-committee.
Frontline gladiators
In the spirit of zoning, party offices would be contested
along geo-political lines, with the South East primed to produced
the chairman, the deputy legal adviser, deputy publicity secretary,
deputy financial secretary.
The South-West will produce the national legal adviser, youth
leader, four ex-officio and national vice chairman. North-West
will grab the financial secretary, deputy treasurer, four
ex-officio and zonal vice chairmen. The North Central gets
the national secretary, auditor, deputy youth leader, four
ex-officio, national vice-chairman, while the South-South
has the national treasurer, organising secretary, deputy auditor,
deputy women leader, four ex-officio, zonal chairman.
The North-eEast gets deputy national secretary, national publicity
secretary, woman leader, deputy organising secretary, four
ex-officio, zonal vice chairman.
The chairmanship and national secretary slots have so far
elicited far-reaching interests.
For four decades, the South-East has not produced a national
chairman for a ruling party at the centre.
For the chairmanship seat, two contenders stand out. Anyim
Pius Anyim, former Senate President and Dr. Sam Egwu, former
Ebonyi State governor. Both hail from the same state and are
political adversaries. Also in the race is Ambassador Frank
Nchita Ogbuewu.
From Imo State in the race are Chief Rochas Okorocha, Nze
Ozichukwu Chukwu, a former zonal chairman, Chief Emmanuel
Iwuanayanwu, a BOT member, Chief Tony Anyanwu, a former federal
lawmaker, Chief Noel Aguocha Chukwukadibia, and Chief China
Iwuanyanwu.
From Abia are Vincent Ogbulafor, former national secretary;
Sunday Iroche, Benjamin Apugo, and Senator Ike Nwachukwu.
Anambra is fielding Chief Dan Ulasi, Sir George Ike Okoye
and Engr. Nnamdi Ozobia and Chief Anaeze Chinwuba
Egwu
Egwu, a former presidential aspirant, was the first to obey
a presidential order to withdraw from the race and support
Yar’Adua, who had been endorsed by Obasanjo. His support
by Obasanjo and Ali’s support for him has attracted
negative disposition from the reformist group in the party,
who are opposed to the installation of an Obasanjo lackey.
Beside Obasanjo’s backing, he is also seen as the candidate
of the ex-governors.
Anyim
He is the toast of the anti-Obasanjo forces. As a dark horse,
he got the Senate presidency but refused to play by the whim
and caprices of Obasanjo.
During his Senate presidency, there was stability in the upper
House. He may lose the necessary support from his home state
as the PDP caucus there has endorsed Egwu, but his outside
support base are stronger and legion. Many believe in his
leadership style, which is based on integrity, candour and
wisdom.
There are feelers that General Ibrahim Babangida forces are
also lining behind him in order to checkmate the ever-growing
influence of Obasanjo.
Ezekiel Izuogu
He apparently leads the third force. A progressive politician
and former chairman of a party in the Third Republic, Izuogu,
reportedly enjoys the support of the Northern Union led by
Dr. Olusola Saraki.
Nnamdi Ozobia
As an engineer, he has distinguished himself as a thorough
professional in all assignment he has so far handled. It is
believed that he would bring to bear on the job of chairman
of PDP, the same level of excellence.
Through Ozobia’s leadership, Nigerdock won the National
Productivity Merit Award in 1992.
Already, his candidacy is eliciting wide support from within
the party, both in his home state of Anambra, the South-east
geo-political zone and across the nation.
On his dream for the party he said, “I’ll transform
it the same way I made Nigerdock an agency of envy, world
wide.”
Amaeze Chinwuba
Although he joined the race in December 2007 or thereabout,
he believes he would make the difference. He was a former
frontline governorship aspirant in Anambra State, during the
General Ibrahim Babangida transition programme. He showed
interest in the Fourth Republic governorship race, but backed
out when antidemocratic forces hijacked Anambra State. He
was chairman of the NITEL board and personal teacher of the
late Liberian president, Samuel Doe.
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