Generals ‘go to war’ over the soul of Plateau PDP

The Plateau State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has in recent times been embroiled in a deep crisis, since its defeat at the February 2019 governorship poll, following the removal of its chairman, Honourable Damishi Sango, and his deputy, Honourable Amos Gombi, by its State Executive Committee (SEC).

In a swift reaction to tame the ugly development, the national secretariat of the party set up a committee under the leadership of a former Senate president, Senator David Mark, to investigate the allegations and counter-allegations and come up with recommendations on how to resolve the impasse.

Thus, based on the committee’s recommendations, the chairman and his deputy were absolved of virtually all the allegations against them. Sunday Tribune learnt that the party, in its wisdom, considered the forces against Sango within the party in Plateau State to be overwhelming, and, therefore, recommended that he should resign, while his deputy should take over. He was compensated with membership of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).

Based on the directive of the National Working Committee (NWC), Sango resigned and handed over to his deputy at an elaborate ceremony at the party secretariat. The general expectation among party faithful was that the party would, henceforth, experience peace and be more focused.

However, the new acting chairman, Gombi, was to, again, be removed in controversial circumstances.

To some party members who were not privy to the game-plan unfolding within the party, especially among various interest groups and precisely between the loyalists of Senator Jeremiah Useni and a former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, the sudden sack of the acting chairman by SEC was a rude shock.

In what could be described as a palace coup, some members of the SEC met at the state party secretariat with some elected state House of Assembly members and their counterparts in the National Assembly on a certain Monday at about 7:30 a.m. to pull the rug off the feet of Gombi, while in Abuja to formalise his new status as acting chairman of Plateau PDP.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, the senator representing Plateau North, Istifanus Gyang, said the constitution of the PDP stipulated that the zone which produced the chairman that resigned should be the one to produce his replacement.

“The Northern zone, which produced Honourable Sango that resigned in compliance with Section 47 (6) of the party’s constitution, came up with the resolution of nominating Honourable Chris Hassan. The nomination was sent to the SEC which ratified it today.

“We have not done anything outside the constitution of the party. The SEC met and approved the nomination. The name Hassan will be forwarded to the NWC for final approval,” he said.

Immediately after the briefing, the group proceeded to the country home of the former governor of the state, Senator Jang, who also lent his voice to the action of the group. He told journalists that the SEC simply acted in line with the constitution of the party which was also in line with the directive of the national secretariat.

As of the time those loyal to the leader of the party, Senator Useni, and the embattled acting chairman got wind of the removal, the group had perfected the act and left the secretariat.

The embattled acting chairman, Honourable Gombi, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, likened the development  to a coup, adding that the national secretariat of the party had issued him a letter with a mandate to run affairs of the party for the next three months before another congress would be conducted.

“I was out of town when this incident happened. I travelled for the wedding of the son of our national chairman, Uche Secondus, in Port Harcourt. I could recalled that the secretary of the party called that there was need to call for a meeting of state executive of the party which I declined and told him to wait for my arrival. But to my surprise, he called for the meeting which was held today.

“However, it was a failed coup, because no local government chairman of our party and prominent stakeholder was in attendance. The process is that I finish the tenure of Sango, based on the directive from the NWC. The party has not changed its position on zoning. I am from the Central zone. I cannot contest for the chairmanship of the party. My job is to lead the party to the congress, which is expected to come up in three months time,” he said.

He said those behind his purported sack had been the ones troubling the party since the last governorship election for selfish reasons.

“My advice is that they should wait for the party’s congress slated for the first quarter of next (this) year to test their popularity. The national secretariat has given me the mandate to run this party in acting capacity for the next three months. They were part of the decision that brought me on board,” he said.

The crisis rocking the party, however, took another dimension penultimate Friday when Senator Useni and the embattled acting chairman, Gombi, convened another SEC meeting with their loyalists and sympathisers in attendance. The SEC, after its deliberations, suspended the secretary of the party, Emmanuel Tuan, who facilitated the previous SEC meeting that sacked acting chairman.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Senator Useni likened the sack of the acting chairman to a coup, adding that those who sat in the guise of SEC to carry out the “illegal” act had been behind the crisis in the party since February 2019.

“If you planned a coup and it failed, the rule is that you should be shot. So, these people planned a coup and it failed. So, they deserve to be disciplined and we have set up a committee under the leadership of Mr Simon Joks to investigate them.

“There must be discipline. I am a discipline person. I am happy that we took decision to suspend indefinitely the secretary of the party who convened the meeting. We also set up the committee to investigate what transpired. Anyone who refuses to honour the committee’s invitation is automatically qualified for suspension. The party belongs to all of us. We cannot continue to wear the cloth of yester years. We must change our dress.

“I want the committee to work hard and submit its report within two weeks. I know those causing this problem have been meeting. But no list will get to the national secretariat without all of us agreeing here.

Anybody who thinks he can go on his own is deceiving himself. What they have done amounted to coup; they planned a coup and failed. When you plan a coup and failed, you deserve to be shot,” he said.

In a swift reaction, the publicity secretary of the party, Mr. John Akans, said the meeting chaired by General Useni (retd) could be likened to a meeting of committee of friends, because the convener had no constitutional power to do so.

“It is a committee of friends’ not SEC meeting. It is not a SEC meeting; there›s no provision for that in our party. There is no role for party leader; it is an ad hoc position. We don›t recognise General Useini as leader. We are not in a barracks. The constitution of the PDP supersedes any other interest,” he said.

A source close to Senator Useni said the action of some members of SEC who stormed the party secretariat in the early hour of two Mondays ago to sack the acting chairman was in deviance of and contrary to the terms of resolution of the impasse that brought in Gombi as the acting chairman.

According to him, “it was a script planned and hatched by some members of SEC to control the structure of the party ahead of next year congress so as to gain advantage. It was a failed and futile effort that cannot hold.”

Analysts and those who have been monitoring the trend of events, especially in the PDP in the state, have linked the ongoing scenario to personality clashes between the two gladiators, Useni and Jang. They perceive the latest development as part of the ploy to control the party structure in the state.

A source close to the party told Sunday Tribune that the pronouncement of Useni as the party leader in the state by the national secretariat has further compounded the situation. It was gathered that those loyal to Jang are not at home with the pronouncement. They claimed it was awkward to place Useini above Jang, considering the contributions of the latter to the party, both at the state and national levels.

Some of Jang’s loyalists posited that he was a founding member of the PDP and a former governor of the state. According to them, it was wrong and a political miscalculation to place Useni above the former governor in terms of hierarchy in the state.

There is also an insinuation that the wrangling is a prelude to 2023 governorship election. Though it is obvious that, based on a zoning arrangement that has been on ground, the next governor of the state would come from the Central part of Plateau, it was learnt that the people of the Northern zone are scheming to upturn the arrangement. They hinged this on the popularity of the party in the zone. Based on the outcome of the last general elections, the PDP won virtually all elections in Plateau North. Thus, the zone is, no doubt, a strong political base of the PDP in the state. There are indications that the zone might want to exploit this advantage to contest the governorship election in 2023.

A staunch member of the PDP from the Central zone declared thus: “There is more to this. The purported sack of Gombi is not new to many of us, because they had vowed that the acting chairman would not remain in office for one week, immediately Sango resigned. And this is what happened. We want the Northern zone to realise that despite their support for the party in the last election, they cannot single handedly deliver the state for the PDP in 2023. We are watching.”

He added that Senator Useni did not impose himself as party leader in the state, but was appointed by the national secretariat of the party to stabilise it, based on his pedigree and neutrality in the crisis rocking the party.

He said it was an insult to convene SEC meeting without the knowledge of the party leader in the state, adding that “therefore, the sack of Gombi cannot stand.”

The crisis is also taking ethnic dimension. It is being viewed as a struggle between the Central zone where Gombi hails from and Plateau North. This was demonstrated last Monday when some youths stormed the party secretariat as the news filtered in that Gombi had been sacked. But they were repelled by armed security men stationed at the secretariat to maintain law and order.

Those from the Central zone, largely the Angas ethnic stock, have vowed to resist Gombi’s removal and were pointing accusing fingers at the Berom which are the dominant ethnic group in the Northern zone. They were alleged to be behind the travails of their son.

But certainly, the development has polarised the party along the lines of two prominent of its members, the leader Senator Useni and former Governor Jang.

There are strong indications that Useini, who is a retired Lieutenant General and Jang, a retired Air Commodore, will go head to head in this game of political brinksmanship over the structure of the PDP in the state.