WHEN the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was unexpectedly ousted from power in 2015, and its morale at its lowest ebb from its successful tarring by perceived traducersas running a corrupt and inefficient administration, the onus was thought to have been on its governors to help the former ruling party to navigate the most challenging time in its history. The party struggled to adjust to its new role as the main opposition party, which was a new experience for it having been in power virtually from inception.
Adamu Mu’azu was forced to resign after leading the party to the ignominious fall from grace. Even though his deputy, Prince Uche Secondus, succeeded him as the acting national chairman, the resignation was the beginning of a sustained leadership crisis that nearly buried the party, which once prided itself as the largest political party in Africa, until the apex court of the land issued a proclamation to restore common sense. While the crisis lasted, many of its governors assumed ambivalent disposition, giving rise to suspicion that some of them were working for the new ruling party either for relevance in the new dispensation or to gain some sort of favour from the new powers that be.
The outgoing governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson, became the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum (PDP-GF) after the loss of power. The jury is out as to whether or not he has had a successful tenure as the leader of the governors elected under the PDP in the last four years. But suffice it to say that he obviously struggled to keep pace with the myriads of problems that threatened to overwhelm the newly emerged opposition party.
While trying to do his job as the leader of the governors, he became saddled with an equally critical assignment – the chairman of the PDP national reconciliation committee under the short-lived national leadership of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as well as under the PDP national caretaker committee led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi. Dickson found himself torn between Sheriff and the Makarfi’s national caretaker committee during their bitter legal tussle for soul of the PDP. Many critical observers thought Dickson’s loyalty leant towards Sheriff and governors siding with Makarfi at the time did not have confidence in him. Perhaps, it explains why he was hardly able to have a full house whenever he called a meeting of the forum.
With the Bayelsa governor’s tenure due to end February 14 after eight years, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP unanimously endorsed Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state to succeed him as the new leader of its governors. Tambuwal recognizes the sheer enormity of the task ahead of him as his era begins in earnest. Apart from working to reform and reposition the PDP, his major challenge could be how to bring together all the governors elected under it. He is aware of the mutual suspicion and, at times, bitter open confrontation among themselves. “There are issues here and there, but they are not beyond us and we shall reconcile those who are having some issues with one another and also ensure that our party is firmly positioned for the challenges ahead,” he said while announcing himself as the new PDP-GF chairman recently.
The public hostility between governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and Dickson is an example of the messy relationship that Tambuwal will seek to avert going forward. The open and possibly inimical flirtations of PDP governors with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), is another. This, in particular, has left many party supporters confused and wondering whether the national leadership has completely lost control over its state chief executives. The governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has continued to pass mixed messages as to where he actually belongs, in one instance, claiming to be a member of both his party, the PDP and the ruling APC, simultaneously, while his Abia counterpart, Okezie Ikpazu, has exploited every opportunity to identify with President Muhammadu Buhari rather than be with his colleagues in the PDP. Tambuwal may want to give clarity to their dispositions. He may also be interested in finding a solution to the lukewarm attitude of some of the governors, particularly the ones in the south east, towards PDP meetings summoned by its national leadership, as they almost always stay away.
The Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party is thought to have achieved some mileage in rebuilding the PDP, which has seen it progressively done better in recent elections. However, observers are of the view that much remains to be done if the party is to properly prime itself to regain power at the centre. They believe that the NWC’s effort at reconciliation and rebuilding is yet incomplete. Tambuwal will now need to provide the fillip for the process to achieve the goals in time for the 2023 general elections.
The PDP faithful must now be hopeful because the former Speaker of the House of Representatives has already signaled that he will do just this. He is already making positive noises about strengthening the party and continuing to build upon the nation’s democratic culture, rule of law and constitutionalism. He knows that to do this, he needs all the governors and other stakeholders thinking and working together. “Of course, in foisting of peace among governors and indeed the entire party, I assure you that we are going to use this platform to bring everybody on board. We will bring former governors, former ministers that served in the party. They are very resourceful, they are our leaders and they have a lot to contribute for the development of the party and our country. So, we shall relate more closely with them towards rebuilding the party and, of course, deepening our democracy in Nigeria.”
But beyond PDP matters, Tambuwal will also be busy mobilizing the PDP governors around the efforts to achieve peace and security in the country. His pledge. “I can assure you that all of us in the PDP will continue to work on the issue of insecurity. We don’t play politics with security. There is no party when you come to talk about security. It is every body’s concern, all of us are really involved in it. We will be supportive of security agencies in our respective states in ensuring that we achieve everlasting peace and stability in our respective states and the entire federation. So, we will continue in that regard and we will continue to cooperate with the federal government to come up with new ideas, new approach, especially when you talk about deploying technology and bringing more capable hands to ensure that we reverse the trend.”
As one of the most respected PDP governors, the party insiders are confident that Tambuwal has the requisite experience and capacity to bring the stakeholders together for the pursuit of a common party objective and to help it to become a more formidable election winning machine.
and then