From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
There seems to be no end in sight to the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The leaders of the party are still sharply divided on how to resolve the imbroglio triggered by the nomination of the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar, two months after the crisis started.
Since June 16 when the PDP presidential candidate, unveiled Okowa his running mate for the 2023 general elections, neither Atiku nor the opposition party has known peace. Apart from the Delta governor, others recommended for the vice presidential slot were the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Udom Emmanuel..
However, the PDP presidential candidate settled for Okowa. Atiku, while unveiling his running mate, said the Delta governor “personifies not only the seriousness the current moment represents for our country but also the future that our young people yearn for and deserve. He is a serving state governor who has demonstrated, in his state and through his conduct, that governance is about service to the people. “
However, loyalists of the Rivers State governor, had expressed misgivings over Okowa’s emergence as vice presidential candidate. According to them, Wike, who came second in the PDP presidential primary ought to be Atiku’s running mate. A panel set up by the PDP to shop for suitable running mate had reportedly voted in favour of the Rivers governor by 14 votes to three.
The crisis, which has kept the PDP on the edge, has polarized the various organs of the party including the National Working Committee (NWC) as well as the PDP Governors Forum, with different groups queuing behind Wike and Atiku/ the PDP leadership.
Consequently, the pro-Wike governors and party leaders have stayed away from functions in recent times. Daily Sun reliably gathered that party stakeholders aggrieved by the outcome of the nomination of Okowa as vice presidential candidate are plotting to unseat Ayu as the national chairman.
The national chairman, who had visited Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, a day after the PDP convention, and was shown a video clip hailing the governor as the “hero of the convention” is accused of alleged bias in the process leading to the emergence of the PDP presidential and vice presidential candidates. Tambuwal had withdrawn from the contest for the PDP presidential ticket at the 11th hour paving way for Atiku’s victory in the primary.
However, the Special Assistant on Communication and Strategy, to the PDP chairman, Simon Imobo-Tswam, told Daily Sun that Ayu’s visit to Tambuwal’s residence did not remove from the credibility and integrity of the national convention.
Imobo-Tswam added that the national chairman has kept his promise to ensure that the nomination process is free and fair. He said, “When Dr Ayu became the chairman of the party, he was clear about giving everyone, a level playing field. At every forum, he emphasised that the NWC which he leads was going to be very impartial, so that the best candidate emerge in a very transparent manner that doesn’t give room for contentions and misinterpretation. And to a large extent, that was what Dr Iyorchia Ayu did.”
The Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, in a recent television interview, said the Rivers governor and his supporters deserve an explanation from Atiku on why he was not chosen as the party’s vice presidential candidate.
Ortom had said, “I expect him(Atiku) to reach out to Wike, who came second and he denied the popular view of PDP members, 14 out of 17, saying that Wike should be the VP. In his wisdom, he chose that it should be Governor Okowa. Governor Okowa is a nice man. I have no problem with him. If we are in a democratic era and 14 people out of 17 say it should be Wike and he, in his wisdom gave it to Okowa, I expect more explanations. I expect him to talk to Wike first, that we are supporting.
“ I expect him to even reach out to some of us so that together we can work as a party.” The Benue governor is one of the four supporting Wike. Others are Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu and Seyi Makinde of Enugu, Abia and Oyo states respectively. However, in a twist, Ortom, days after his outburst told journalists that the issue between the Atiku and the Wike group was being resolved.
Two week ago, Atiku and Wike met at the Abuja residence of former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, where they agreed to set up a committee of equal number of members to resolve all contentious issues, and present the resolutions to a larger committee for ratification.
Prior to the meeting by the two party leaders, the Rivers State governor supporters had met, in Abuja, where they allegedly insisted on the removal of Ayu as the national chairman as a condition for reconciliation.
But it was reported that the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) after a meeting resolved to wade into the crisis.
However, hopes that the Atiku/Wike Abuja parley will lead to an early resolution of the crisis was dashed after the Rivers State governor’s camp accused the PDP candidate of not showing good faith in the reconciliation process. A source close to the governor alleged that Atiku invited four of Wike’s men to a meeting in Abuja, without his knowledge. He said the meeting was allegedly aimed at undermining the Rivers governor. A top official in Atiku’s denied it though.
Analysts say the major issue in the PDP crisis is whether or not Ayu should be replaced as national chairman, prior to the next general election. Daily Sun gathered that the sharp disagreement on the fate of the national chairman, has made it difficult to resolve the issues. It was gathered that while the Wike camp are bent on Ayu’s replacement immediately, the Atiku group is against the move.
For instance, meetings of the PDP national caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) scheduled to hold on August 10 and 11 respectively, were called off, over fears that the anti- Ayu forces might move against the national chairman at the NEC meeting.
Nevertheless, more party leaders, including former PDP deputy national chairman (South), Chief Olabode George has continued to call for the replacement of Ayu, with someone from the South. The argument of the “Ayu must go” group is that it is improper for the North and South to produce both the presidential candidate and national chairman at the same time.
According to George, the PDP chairman had allegedly said he would vacate his office if a northerner emerges as the opposition party’s candidate. He said the party leader should honour his words.
”Ayu said once the presidential candidate emerged from the North, he will resign. I want to take on him for his word. Why are you now trying to reverse the role? Your word must be your bond,” he stated.
Similarly, Solomon Bob, a member of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, told Daily Sun, in an interview that Wike “wants nothing less than sincere, genuine and unscripted attempt to fully reconcile.”
Bob noted that Atiku must show commitment to the reconciliation process by impressing on Ayu to step aside as national chairman. He said this is imperative to create a balance in the party, especially as the national chairman, prior to the presidential primary, allegedly pledged to vacate his seat if a Northerner clinches the ticket.
According to him, “For me, if Atiku sincerely wants to reconcile and negotiate, he should start with rejigging the party’s leadership because as it is now, everything is pulled in favour of one side. So, he has to seize the bull by the horns and let some of his acolytes, no matter how highly placed, and say you, step aside.”
Nevertheless, former national chairman of the party, Kawu Baraje, in a television interview, last week, said though the PDP has a principle of zoning of offices, there is nothing unusual in both the national chairman and presidential candidate coming from the same zone. Baraje noted that usually, it is after the party had won the presidential election that the chairmanship is re-zoned to achieve North/South balance.
According to him, “What is happening is that people are so much in a hurry. People are jittery. People are not waiting for the party to organize itself. That is why some of us leaders are putting our heads together to ensure that those processes don’t jump the guns. That is exactly what we are doing.. We have our tradition. And the party will follow that tradition.
“The tradition of balancing of all inclusiveness. And the tradition of carrying every part of the country along is the culture of the PDP. And we will definitely without hindrance put that in order, where there are any lapses.”
However, the PDP has ruled out the replacement of Ayu as national chairman before the 2023 polls. The spokesman of the opposition party, Debo Ologunagba, told journalists last week that the party cannot remove the national chairman now, as it does not want to go to the 2023 polls with a divided house.
Ologunagba noted: “we don’t want to go into the election with a constitutional crisis; we have barely six months to the election. Even if you say Ayu should go today, his replacement comes from the same North.
“There has been a precedent, when (Umaru) Yar’Adua became our candidate (2007); Ahmadu Alli, a fellow northerner was national chairman and remained so until the party won the 2003 elections.”
PDP spokesman, who expressed optimism that all the issues will be resolved soon, said the party is intensifying efforts to reconcile all differences within its fold.
Daily Sun gathered that the Atiku and Wike camps are expected to commence peace talks in the coming week. But whether or not they will be able to reach a compromise on the contentious issues, especially on the issue of national chairman, is another thing altogether.