Deputy Editor, LEON USIGBE, writes on what lies ahead for the National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) withlast Wednesday’s Supreme Court judgment.
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) returned from the dead literally last Wednesday with the decision of the Supreme Court to reinstate the National Caretaker Committee (NCC) led by Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi as the authentic national leadership of the party. Until the unanimous judgement handed down by five of the apex court’s justices, the already bartered and crisis-weary party that once bestrode the nation’s political landscape like a colossus, was expected to further disintegrate. Some of its most enterprising governors particularly Ayo Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Ekiti and Rivers states, respectively hammered on the fact the they would lead an exit deluge from the PDP should the Supreme Court affirm the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led now defunct National Working Committee (NWC) as the leadership of the party.
However, these were seen as the non-pretentious and outspoken ones. Many of their colleagues had similar ideas but preferred to look on with one leg in and another out of the PDP until the determination of the case. Across board, all over the national membership of the party and other interested individuals who yearned for political accommodation, there were millions of people who looked on to see the outcome of the litigation as a cue for their next political move. Even the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin and his member, Chief Bode George, openly declared that they would have resigned had the judgment gone the other way. There was therefore a palpable relief among these classes of people who by virtue of the judgment, now see a ray of hope in the horizon that there may yet be a viable opposition and an alternative party to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
The NCC is, to say the least, already lapping up the judicial victory, presenting that party as in good shape to kick out the APC in the next general election in 2019 because of what it believes the APC has been – a monumental disaster. The PDP NCC points to the perceived suffering and cries of Nigerians under the yoke of the present government as an indication that Nigerians were delighted that the PDP’s leadership crisis has been permanently resolved.
Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the National Publicity of the PDP NCC put it this way: “The APC government has been one of monumental disaster, the worst we have ever seen in the history of this country. People are looking for an alternative. I’m not going to mention the word ‘change’ because I understand that the word ‘change’ may have some abuse, connotes some evil spiritual meaning. I want to say ‘alternative.’
People are looking for an alternative in this country, alternative government in 2019. And when the PDP was in crisis, they lost hope completely. They felt that, ‘well, is this how they will continue to deal with this terrible APC government?’
“But now, with the judgment, they know that the PDP can come together and present a formidable opposition to the APC in 2019. And from what we can see in this country, the election of 2019, no matter what APC may do, it’s going to be a walkover for PDP by the grace of God. The suffering of Nigerians has been too much and the arrogance of those in power is unprecedented in the history of this country. They talk of impunity. Which government can be more guilty of impunity than the APC government? So, going forward, I want to signal to the APC that the PDP had come together and they will now see opposition in full force going forward. Virile opposition is what we are going to present to the APC. They should be expecting that.
“We have given them holiday for two solid years. And that had made them to feel that they can ride roughshod over Nigerians. We made them to believe that they can do whatever they like. I have never seen this kind of government before but going forward, the PDP will provide virile opposition, very strong opposition to the APC government. We are going to make Nigerians to see the evils of this government. We will bring it out more clearly so that people can begin to make up their minds in the run up to the 2019 election.”
The general election may not be too far away but before getting fixated on that, the PDP must first do a catch up. The nearly two years of crisis has taken its toll on the body and soul of the party, shaking it to its very foundation. To political observers, it therefore means that the NCC must be focused on the examination of the party foundation with a view to reinforcing it and becoming well placed to look with confidence to the future. Makarfi believes he is already on this path. First, is his realization that many party faithful are unhappy with the Supreme Court judgment even though it may have ensured justice. Second, he must work for the PDP regain the trust of Nigerians it has lost. Something has to be done to reassure and accommodate these set of members. To achieve this, he has announced “a general amnesty” for Sheriff and all his loyalists who will operate under a level playing field in the NCC-led PDP.
“But let everybody come in and take your place. Come and take your place in the party. The Supreme Court has already decided who are the leaders of the party. As for the state chapters, we are going to be looking at that and we will do justice to everybody. So, there is no question of drawing any line. So, everybody is welcome. It’s their party, they can come in. Unless you make up your own mind by yourself not to come in and embrace peace, unless you want to continue to fight in which case we will be forced to take some steps. We are even extending our hands of fellowship to those who have left the party because of this crisis, those who are now in APC or some other political parties, those who have even gone ahead to form new political parties, they are all welcome back to the PDP.”
In this direction, the NCC has its work cut out because Sheriff has not indicated that he has accepted the court ruling and willing to work with his rival, Makarfi, to rebuild the PDP. Hours after the court gave its verdict, a tweet appeared on his alleged twitter handle, @SenAliSheriff, congratulating Makarfi over the victory and pledging his support to move the party forward. The Sheriff’s tweet maintained: “The Supreme Court has spoken. I congratulate Senator Makarfi. We must all put our hands together to channel a new course for the PDP. This is the time to build the PDP and to focus on the future, which include reclaiming power from the APC.”
This tweet drew a reaction from former Minister of Aviation and key opponent of Sheriff, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who thanked God that the PDP was back in good hands and lambasted the former National Chairman of the party. Tweeting on his verified handle, @realFFK, Fani-Kayode stated: “Praise the Lord! God has given us victory at Supreme Court. PDP is back in the right hands. Shame on Ali Modu Sheriff! Congrats to PDP!” However, there was confusion as the next day, Sheriff’s spokesman, Hon. Bernard Mikko, issued a statement which suggested the former Borno state governor’s camp was not comfortable with the Supreme Court’s decision and was therefore contemplating its next course of action. The statement issued on Thursday said that the Sheriff group was shocked by the judgement and was now consulting with its lawyers to determine its next course of action. It posited: “We received with shock the 12th July judgement of the Supreme Court on the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Though we still await the full written judgement of the highest court from our lawyers who will fully brief us on the details of the judgement; in the interim, we ask all members and supporters to remain steadfast in prayers for Nigeria. Meanwhile, we continue with our avowed demands that the party must be given back to the owners at the grassroots to always elect their party officials and those to contest elections for them at all levels. Internal democracy must be institutionalized in the party.”
Mikko followed this up with another statement hours later, disavowing the twitter handle and its content as far as the comment on the court judgement was concerned. The statement was an affirmation of Sheriff’s intention not to openly accept Makarfi just yet as it associated the act of congratulating the former Kaduna state governor on his behalf with evil. It said: “Our attention has been drawn to a fake congratulatory message credited to an imaginary Twitter handle of Sen (Dr) Ali Modu Sheriff, the immediate past PDP National Chairman. For the avoidance of doubt, Sen Ali Modu Sheriff does not have or own a Twitter account and could not have tweeted any message. We therefore view the said message as fake and mischievous and should be discountenanced as that of evil doers. We further warn all mischief makers to desist from trying to exploit the huge political capital of Sen Ali Modu Sheriff for selfish gains.”
Since the Supreme Court judgment, there have been series of meetings though between Markafi on the one hand and multifaceted party stakeholders on the other including PDP state governors, former PDP ministers, its members of the National Assembly, among others, all of them pledging loyalty and support to the NCC in the effort to rebuild the party, but nothing has been heard about any meeting with the Sheriff group.
The court may have put a final stop to Sheriff’s claim to the national chairmanship post but he is still capable of causing some discomfort to the party. Political watchers argue that this is what Makarfi needs to work on, finding a way to assuage him and lessening the disappointment of being stripped of his coveted post. By virtue of being a former National Chairman, Sheriff becomes an automatic member of its BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC), two platforms which should afford him a place to continue to play important roles in the PDP. But being hurt, these opportunities may not be appealing enough for him and his numerous loyalists until the party finds a way to massage his bruised ego. The coming days should give clarity to what his disposition towards Makarfi and the PDP is.
Makarfi is also expected to, within the days ahead, unveil his strategies for moving forward. But the party leadership can be assured that tough times lie in wait as it seeks to restore Nigerians’ confidence in the former ruling party in the run up to 2019.
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