LEON USIGBE looks back at the year 2022 as far as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is concerned, suggesting that the onslaught by Governor Nyesom Wike has been its defining moment.
The condition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not exactly like the German Rohm Putsch but there are daggers drawn. Whereas “Night of the Long Knives,” the Nazi Germany purge of June 30 to July 2 of 1934 led to political and extra-judicial executions ordered by Chancellor Adolf Hitler in his attempt to consolidate his power, the PDP’s only casualty going forward may be its dream to return to power.
With less than two months until the presidential election, the main opposition’s condition remains fluid. It has been so even before the presidential primary and its aftermath when a war of attrition erupted over the choice of the running mate of the winner of its presidential ticket, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. But before the national convention to pick its standard-bearer, the party had found itself on the edge over the practicability of its entrenched principle of power rotation. The PDP’s Constitution under Section 7 (2) (c) states: “In pursuant of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of the party and public executive offices.”
However, there was a controversy as to whether the principle would apply in the 2023 general elections based on the argument of northern elements in the party that the last Nigerian PDP president was a southerner. This glosses over the fact that the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, is a northerner and will be in the position for eight years.
The argument put forward by those who wanted the ticket thrown open was two-fold. One, Buhari’s tenure can only matter in his party’s, the All Progressives Congress (APC), presidential race calculations. Two, it is imperative that PDP wins the election first before sharing positions. But there was palpable tension from the start.
Earlier in the year, it was apparent that the main opposition party had become tethered to a landmine that could explode any moment. It arose mainly from the report of the 2019 Election Review Committee led by Governor Muhammed Bala of Bauchi State. Set up in 2020, the report it turned in had noted that “the exigencies of the moment demanded that nothing should be compromised in choosing the leader with the attributes to disentangle the country from the present quagmire. Therefore, we think that every Nigerian from every part of the country should be given the opportunity to choose the best candidate through a credible primary election, as a way of institutionalising a merit-based leadership recruitment process for the country.”
But as the electioneering season for the 2023 exercise kicked into higher gear, the PDP became deliberately ambiguous over the power rotation and zoning principle. This encouraged 14 individuals from across the country, including Atiku, who was the 2019 losing standard-bearer of the party; Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Governor Mohammed whose committee recommended throwing the presidential ticket of the party open to all sections of the country, to obtain nomination forms for the presidential ticket.
Others, who paid the N40 million fee to obtain the nomination forms are former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi; former Senate President Bukola Saraki; Ovation magazine publisher, Dele Momodu; former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose; Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike; investment banker and economist, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen; a former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa; Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze; former Senate President Pius Anyim and the only female in the group exempted from paying the nomination from fees, Oliver Diana.
With Iyorchia Ayu, a northerner already the national chairman, many of the presidential aspirants from the South who anchored their enthusiasm on the hope that 2023 was the turn of the region, openly criticised the presence of their northern counterparts in the race.
Now faced with dilemma, the party set up a zoning committee headed by Governor Sam Ortom of Benue State, but the committee was itself mired in controversy as it was unable to reach a definite position on zoning the presidential ticket despite the committee chairman’s best push to cede it to the south. Then, it emerged that the committee resolved that: “Zoning, as in our party constitution, is affirmed. Despite (1) above, the ticket is thrown open, this time around due to exigency of the time.”
However, Ortom disputed this and did not show up on the day the committee submitted the report to the PDP National Working Committee (NWC). What followed were long meetings of the various organs of the party, culminating in the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) adopting the position to throw the ticket open and leaving southern party stakeholders stunned.
Obi promptly resigned from the PDP, saying: “It has been a great honour to contribute to nation-building efforts through our party. Unfortunately, recent developments within our party make it practically impossible to continue participating and making such constructive contributions. Our national challenges are deep-seated and require that we each make profound sacrifices towards rescuing our country. My commitment to rescuing Nigeria remains firm, even if the route differs.”
As the PDP went into the presidential primary election, even the most ardent of cynics never saw what was coming because the participants including Wike, arguably the most impactful of them all, had vowed to abide by the outcome of the exercise. That was until Tambuwal violated the code of conduct at the convention by seizing the microphone after he had had his turn to sell himself to the delegates only to announce his withdrawal in favour of the former vice president. Thus, notwithstanding all pleas made by southern aspirants to be considered for the ticket, it was Atiku that came away with it. Wike felt betrayed and apparently drew the battle line.
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Moments after the convention, the PDP national chairman went to the Sokoto State governor’s lodge to hail him as the “hero of the convention” for stepping down for Atiku, an action that reinforced Wike’s suspicion of a northern plot involving the party boss to edge out the south. A seething Wike temporarily withdrew into his shell until he thought that there was a possibility that he might be picked as the vice-presidential running mate to Atiku. This did not materialise because Atiku chose Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, even after Wike was recommended by a committee set up by the ex-vice president to help him reach the choice of a running mate. Daggers were drawn.
Wike rejected the PDP status quo under the guise that the South has been cheated in the party’s organogram as what obtains is a violation of the zoning arrangement that had been in practice. Having already vowed to stick with the outcome of the presidential primary, he says he has no problem with the presidential ticket, but that Ayu must resign as the national chairman to pave way for a southerner to emerge as party boss. The Benue State born politician has not heeded the call and Atiku maintains that he has no powers to kick him out amid the Rivers governor’s unrelenting onslaught on everything the party stands for.
The year saw him herding to his side, four of his colleagues, including Ortom, Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Uguanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu; some members of the party leadership as well as senior stakeholders across the country, leaving PDP in a precarious situation. Atiku has continued to give mixed signals of his determination – to trudge on without the governor’s group and looks forward to a united front with them going into the polls. But as 2022 comes to an end, Wike’s vigorous assault on the PDP must be seen as the defining moment for the party, a pivotal period the former ruling party had been challenged to make a fundamental change.
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