By Dirisu Yakubu
After its unexpected fall from grace to grass following its loss of the 2015 Presidency, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, quickly regrouped, put its house in order and resolved to return with a bang.
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In a quick implementation of far-reaching reforms starting from its non-elective convention in 2017; the party conducted a nationally acclaimed national convention at the Eagles Square, Abuja which birthed the Prince Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee.
This was quickly followed by a public apology tendered to Nigerians by Secondus himself on behalf of the party “for all we may have done wrong in the past.”Although, the sins of the party were not mentioned, Secondus assured Nigerians that he had come to put an end to the culture of imposition and impunity; two vices that ultimately brought the party to its knees in 2015 after 16 years in the saddle.
In the build up to the polls, Nigeria’s biggest opposition party in a coup-like fashion had its rank swollen with the defection of six of the biggest political figures in the land. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Rabiu Kwakwanso, and Governors Aminu Tambuwal, Abdulfatai Ahmed and Samuel Ortom of Sokoto, Kwara and Benue states respectively dumped the All Progressives Congress, APC for the PDP, leaving some bookmakers to tip the latter for victory in the event of a free, fair and credible poll in 2019.
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Although, the Presidential convention which produced Atiku in Port Harcourt elicited widespread acclaim for its credibility; the inability of the party to manage the aspiration of those whose dreams were aborted, worked against the party.
Loyalty: Virtue or vice?
For those capable of reading the hidden minds of men, the defection of Atiku and his group was both a blessing and a curse waiting to manifest. The aforementioned had in the events leading to the 2015 polls dumped the PDP for the APC leaving behind for loyalists like Tanimu Turaki, Ahmed Makarfi, David Mark, David Jang, Sule Lamido and a few others, the herculean task of swimming in opposition political waters.
Difficult as it was, they soldiered on only for the defectors to return, preaching “We are back home.” Makarfi and Tanimu had in different fora, reminded the leadership of the party of the imperative of rewarding loyalty, when it became glaring that more money would dwarf money in determining who would get the Presidential ticket ahead of the election.
True to prediction, allegations of some party stalwarts working against the interest of the PDP hit the headlines. Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike wasted no time in drawing the attention of the public to the workings of unnamed “moles” bent on seeing the PDP bite the dust. Rather than investigating this, the party went to sleep, only to wake up to the stark reality that virtually all its Presidential aspirants failed to win their polling units, let alone their local governments.
Super governors vs party
In his essay, “Political Development and Political Decay,” Samuel Huntington warned of the dangers of increased political participation without proportionate increase in the development of institutions. From the era of President Olusegun Obasanjo as Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees till date, the party has been battling to cope with the growing powers of state governors who see themselves more important than the platform they climbed to power.
In 2018, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state handpicked the then Deputy Governor, Professor Olusola Eleka to fly the party’s flag. Backed with state powers, the likes of Dayo Adeyeye and Abiodun Olujimi couldn’t compete on a level playing field with Eleka. Though they lost the ticket, the PDP lost the South-West state to APC.
This year, the Ekiti playbook reincarnated in Bayelsa, a state that had been in the grip of the PDP since 1999. Outgoing governor, Seriake Dickson made it clear that only a member of his political camp, “The Restoration Family,” would succeed him. Little known Duoye Diri, a Senator emerged ahead of more colourful figures like former Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali and erstwhile Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Timi Alaibe.
The acrimony created by the conduct of the party’s primaries led to the emergence of David Lyon of the APC who is now fated to replace Dickson at Creek Haven.
Dickson vs Wike
The two governors of the South-South states of Rivers and Bayelsa are at each other’s throat with a disputed oil bloc, the remote cause. Today, Wike has come out to openly accuse Dickson of anti-party activities in the build up to 2019 elections. For peace to reign, Wike says Dickson must quit even as he accused him of plotting to join the APC at a time convenient for him.
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As things stand today, the party’s quest to stage a comeback in 2023 might end up a mere hallucination given the litany of internally inflicted woes now threatening its survival.
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