TAOFEEK LAWAL writes on the recommendations of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the quest to further fortify the party vis-à-vis the hide and seek among some chieftains, as the campaign for the general election gathers momentum.
It is about two weeks since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar flagged off the campaign for the 2023 general election. The party, along with its candidate, has held rallies in Katsina and Kaduna states after the commencement of the campaign from the Akwa Ibom State capital. Chieftains from the geopolitical zones of the country are members of the PDFP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC). The presence of the majority of them at the rallies have literally rekindled hope among PDP faithful of a gradual return to the era of glory for the PDP
It would be recalled that the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu had emerged from the North after a consensus reached by all the 13 PDP governors and other leaders at the party’s convention held at the Eagle Square, Abuja on October 31, 2021. Ayu was brought in to replace Prince Uche Secondus, who had a running battle with his godfather and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike. Ayu, along with other members of the National Working Committee (NWC), was sworn in on December 10, 2021 and presented with certificates of return. Other members of the new executives are Taofeek Arapaja – deputy national chairman, South, Umar Damagum – deputy national chairman – North, Samuel Anyanwu – National Secretary, Ahmed Yayari Mohammed – National Treasurer and Umaru Bature – National Organising Secretary. There are also Daniel Woyengikuro – National Financial Secretary, Stella Effa-Attoe – National Women’s Leader, Muhammed Suleiman – Youth Leader, Debo Ologunagba – National Publicity Secretary.
Everything seemed to had gone smoothly in the PDP after Ayu’s election, going by the crisis of confidence among some of the leaders following the defeat of the party in the 2019 general election. The process that threw Ayu up had shown that all the governors found themselves on the same page and had looked forward to the 2023 elections with optimism and hope to rgain power from the All Progressives Party (APC). President Muhammadu Buhari, then of the opposition party, defeated President Goodluck Jonathan by more than 2.5 million votes. Buhari polled 15, 424, 921 votes while Jonathan recorded 12, 853, 162 votes. So, Ayu, during his acceptance speech not only promised to reposition the party to win the 2023 elections but added to return the party to the people. He said:” Our task at this auspicious moment is to return the party to the people. But to do that, the party needs to be reinvigorated, reinvented and repositioned. We are not unmindful of our missed steps and actions in the past but we have learnt our lessons, both in government and in opposition. Today, we stand tall, and with a firm resolve to build our great party and rescue our nation.” However, the post-primary posed a serious challenge to the leading opposition party. Deft moves by some major stakeholders, among them, members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party and co-contenders for PDP presidential ticket joined forces with other concerned party faithful to reconcile all the aggrieved leaders. Nonetheless, Governor Wike; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Samuel Ortom (Benue); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia along with a few other PDP chieftains think more needs to be done on resolving some issues in the party.
Since his ‘withdrawal’ from PDP activities, Wike has called for Ayu’s resignation as party chairman. The Rivers governor based his argument on the fact all the ‘big’ positions in the party cannot be occupied by members from the North. He said the presidential candidate (Atiku) is from the north same as the national chairman (Ayu) and the director general (Tambuwal) of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council. Apparently to satisfy, Wike, the erstwhile BoT chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin stepped aside for a former president of the Senate, Senator Adolphus Wabara. Despite the peace moves, Wike has met with APC governors in Port Harcourt, as well as had meeting with the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
BoT recipe for peace
Only last week, the BoT submitted its report to the National Working Committee on the unending rift between Ayu and Wike presided over by Ayu himself. The BoT in communiqué on its meeting held last Friday in Abuja, asked Ayu to give a firm commitment to resign after the 2023 elections. It also urged every stakeholder to honour their commitment to the party and put a stop to further inflammatory statements. Besides, it called for a review of the composition of the PCC in order to accommodate more tendencies in the bid to calm frayed nerves and heal whatever wounds.
The communiqué read in part; “To urge the national chairman as an eminent leader to give a firm assurance that he would resign his position after the 2023 elections. In the same vein, the BoT chairman has been authorised to offer apologies on behalf of all members who feel maligned or aggrieved by the public statements made by its members across the country that have sharpened the current division in the party, to call on the presidential candidate to review its appointments of members of the campaign council and other advisory appointments to make it an all-inclusive.” The recommendations of the BoT has since led to suspense over the situation in the camp of Wike and others following the BoT recommendations to PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) in the bid to further fortify the party ahead of the elections. It is not yet clear if the PDP top hierarchy will acquiesce to the recommendations of the BoT, which is an advisory organ of the party. Neither has party leadership decided on if it plans to convene a NEC meeting to discuss the report and make a decisive statement on the recommendations. None of the other key organs has given an ikling on their position on the recommendations.
From the look of things, Wike and his colleague governors still have a long way to go if they want to be reckoned with before and during the 2023 elections.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then