PDP and Her Governors’ Efforts to Resolve Leadership Crisis

Although it is not yet uhuru, governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party are however making strident efforts to resolve the lingering leadership crisis in the party, writes Chuks Okocha

For months, the crisis threatening the soul of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appeared insurmountable. For a party desirous of journeying to the centre in the 2023 election cycle, the self-inflicted troubles couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Although, forces bent on shoving national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus out of office have been at work for close to one year; internal squabbles hit new heights when a few weeks ago, a member of the party and former Commissioner of Information in Edo state, Prince Kassim Afegbua accused him (Secondus) of financial recklessness, an allegation he denied, availing journalists the state of party finances with regards to accruals from sales of nomination forms.

A fortnight ago, the plot to ease Secondus out of office grew intense following the resignation of seven national officers who branded the national chairman a lone ranger, running the affairs of the party almost like a personal fiefdom.

To worsen an already bad situation, Mr Sunday Udeh-Okoye, National Youth Leader of the party joined the anti-Secondus forces and claimed that in the event of the PDP boss’ failure to throw in the towel, some members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party would leave.

Almost simultaneously, more voices, including placard carrying youths, joined the call for the sack of Secondus and despite the attempt by highly-placed PDP stalwarts to resolve the crisis; it only festered and grew more intense with each passing day.

Conscious of a possible implosion, the PDP Governors’ Forum, ably led by its chairman and governor of Sokoto state, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, swung into action and convened series of meetings in a bid to resolve the crisis. The governors, acting in sync with party’s organs went to the heart of the matter by inviting warring parties to brainstorm on the way forward.

It is to the credit of the Tambuwal-led Governors’ Forum that both parties conceded grounds and accepted the resolution to bring forward the national elective convention of the party to October, two months before the expected expiration of the tenure of incumbent NWC.

It was not just the demonstration of sufficient leadership will that mattered but the manner Tambuwal, with the backing of his colleagues, seized the moment to drive home some salient points that arguably drove fears into the psyche of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the governor, Nigerians must learn to dismiss insinuations that some PDP governors were nursing intentions to defect to the APC, stressing that “if you want to go, go where?”

In an extempore speech, reminiscent of politicians of the First Republic famous for peerless oratory; Tambuwal jibed the ruling party this way: “There is no party to defect to, no government to defect to,” even as he reminded anyone who cared to listen that all 13 governors elected on the platform of the PDP, including deputy governor of Zamfara state, Mohammed Mahdi Gusau attended the meeting.

The way out to salvage Nigeria from the clutches of backwardness, according to him, is for all Nigerians regardless of status or political affiliations to stay united and work assiduously to send APC packing in 2023.

Perhaps, the biggest take away from that meeting with the possible exception of the resolution of the crisis, was Tambuwal’s apt admonition to party chieftains to stop seeing governors as their financiers.

In his words, governors remain the servants of the people, the ambassador of the electorate who defied obstacles to queue in sunny and rainy ambience to elect them to power.

Given the resolution of the crisis, the governors are expected to go the whole distance to ensure party cohesion in their various states, preparatory to the 2023 general elections.

The efforts of the PDP governors in bringing the crisis to an end would not be complete without the admonition of the former governor of Bayelsa
State, Senator Seriake Dickson who is also a serving senator.

In his intervention, Dickson said that the party cannot stand the risk of a caretaker committee in the face of the 2023 general election. The former governor cautioned that the issue of a caretaker committee is unknown to the party.

He explained that stakeholders have observed for sometime the
growing tension, recriminations and outright attack on the National Chairman and members of the National Working Committee by some leaders of the party.

As an elder and stakeholder, Dickson said he had to refrain from making statements because it is believe that the party has internal mechanisms
and levels of leadership that will handle it and that he was aware that BoT members, governors and other elders, reconciliation committee, collectively and individually, have been making efforts to resolve some of these disputes and challenges affecting the stability of the party.

However, he said, “As we are all aware, some officers of our party, resigned and we should thank them for their services but if their resignation is aimed at causing crisis in the party then we should all condemn it and those behind it.

“By the party’s constitution the appropriate authority, the NWC is empowered to make replacements. I, therefore, call on the National Chairman and other members of the NWC in accordance with the constitution of the party to immediately make appropriate consultations from the states and zones from which these officers have resigned and forthwith, make those replacements subject to ratification by the NEC.”

Like the serving governors, who called for NEC meeting, Dickson aligned himself with the decision, stating that the convening of the NEC which should take appropriate decisions to stabilize the party.

According to him, if there is any member of the working committee who wants to resign, such a person should consider the overall interest of the party and have a rethink.

He stressed that If, any NWC member goes ahead to resign, the resignation should be accepted and consultations be made by the Chairman and NWC to fill those positions as temporary
vacancies subject to ratification.

He appealed to the National Chairman and NWC members to utilise their powers under the constitution to discipline erring members involved in the nefarious plot to destroy the party.
The former Bayelsa governor said that PDP is bigger than any individual and should no longer tolerate people with inordinate ambitions to destroy the party which belongs to all Nigerians.

According to Dickson the party’s window of opportunity to take over power in 2023 was fast receding as a result of these self-inflicted challenges.

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