Saving Plateau PDP from self-ruin

ISAAC SHOBAYO writes on the internal schism threatening to tear apart the Plateau State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite the intervention by the its national leadership to mend fences in the party.

THE outcome of the governorship election in Plateau State, no doubt, caused a further division within the party. There were allegations and counter-allegations over the role allegedly played by different stalwarts of the party to undermine the party.

There were also personality clashes among different stakeholders. The likes of a former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and the aspirants that contested for the party’s governorship ticket, among others, were not on the same page, even as party officials were also divided ahead of the election.

Piqued by the development, 16 members of the PDP State Working Committee (SWC) reviewed the situation after the election and suspended the state chairman, Damishi Sango and his deputy, Honourable Amos Gombi, for alleged misdemeanors and high-handedness. The development further polarised the party and prompted its national secretariat to direct the PDP vice chairman, North-Central, Mr Timothy Dakashan, to steer the affairs of the party in Plateau State.

In spite of this, the matter lingered between the suspended chairman and some members of the party. It was learnt that a committee, headed by a former Senate President David Mark, was set up to resolve the imbroglio. Despite the spirited efforts made by the committee, it could not broker peace. The committee had to pass on its report and findings to the national secretariat.

Some members of the party, who spoke with Nigerian Tribune said the quest to reposition the party was borne out of the belief that the PDP, despite its performance in the last general election, still remained a force to be reckoned with in Plateau, hence the determination to rescue it from those who plunged the party into crisis.

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The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party broke its silence on the development last week when it directed the embattled chairman, Sango to resign his office, in line with the recommendations of the David Mark-led committee. According to a statement by the state publicity secretary of the party, Mr John Akans, the decision was taken at the PDP NWC meeting held in Abuja. The statement added that the PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, with all NWC members gave Sango one week to tender his resignation or face other actions from the party, in line with the PDP Constitution.

According to the statement, it was also resolved that, by the provision of the constitution, the state deputy chairman should temporarily take over the affairs of the party, while the petitioners were asked to withdraw the petitions against Sango, in the spirit of togetherness.

The decision of the PDP national secretariat was received with mix feelings: Those who have been yearning for the exit of Sango applauded the position of the national leadership of the party, while the supporters of the embattled chairman frowned at the outcome. Those in the latter group, however, have no choice than to accept the position of the NWC.

Another drama playing out in the state chapter of the party, after the pronouncement of the PDP NWC, is that there are those who held that Sango remains the state chairman of the party, until the national secretariat issues him an official letter. There is also a postulation that it would be absurd for Sango to handover to his deputy who was also accused along with the embattled chairman.

Reacting to the position of the NWC, the media aide to Sango, Mr Emmanuel Manchan, said the PDP NWC did not indict the chairman, based on the report submitted by the David Mark committee. According to Manchan, Sango was simply directed to resign for peace to reign in the party, while the petition against him should be withdrawn.

“He was not indicted. After a careful review of the report, the chairman was asked to resign while those who authored the petition against him were directed to withdraw the petition for the sake of peace, as well apologise to him. After all these, the party directed him to handover to his deputy,” Manchan said.

He added that until all these were done and a letter exonerating him of all the allegations against him was issued Sango remained the state chairman of the PDP. He explained that he was not reprimand as being speculated by his opponents but was rather compensated with an appointment into the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party.

However, the state publicity secretary of the party, Akans, said the issue of the letter did not arise, noting that the party had taken a position on the matter. “Nobody can bend the position of the NWC. More so, the decision was taken based on the recommendations of the Senator David Mark-led committee which looked into the matter,” he added.

Some other members of the party are also of the opinion that it is inappropriate for Sango to handover to the state deputy chairman since the petition was against him and the chairman. They posited that the duo should have been asked to resign. A governorship aspirant of the party in the last primary election,, who craved anonymity said it was wrong to ask Sango to handover to his deputy because the petition the committee worked on centred on the two.

“A neutral person would have been appointed to steer affairs of the party in the state and lead it to the congress slated for the first quarter of next year. What we want is a person that would reposition the party ahead of the congress,” he added.

An elder and founding member of the PDP in the state, Nde Alexander Molwus, however had a contrary view. He said the decision of the PDP NWC was a fair position which would go a long way in repositioning the party ahead of the congress, adding that the directive that Sango should hand over to his deputy was in tandem with the yearning of party members.

“If you follow the plot to remove Sango from office, you will discover that the deputy chairman, Amos Gombi, was roped in simply because he refused to sign the petition to remove the chairman. So asking him to take over the affairs the party is not out of place.

“But, my personal opinion is that the entire state executive would have been sacked and a caretaker put in place ahead of the congress. If the petitioners were directed to withdraw their petition and apologise and the embattled chairman was compensated with a membership of the PDP Board of Trustees, it simply means he committed no offense. Notwithstanding, all hands are expected to be on deck to reposition the PDP on the Plateau,” he said.

Findings revealed that some members of the party were mounting pressure on the stakeholders to ensure that Sango turn in his letter of resignation on time before the process of congress at various levels commenced. One of the stakeholders declared thus: “We don’t want a situation whereby Sango and his associates will preside over the congresses. He should resign on time to pave the way for his deputy to put machinery in place for the congress. Those in his category should take the back seat and allow the young ones with fresh ideas to come on board.”

The stakeholders’ meeting convened by the governorship candidate of the party, General Jeremiah Useni (rtd), in Jos last Friday further exposed the cleavages within the party while the attendance depicted that the crisis rocking the party on the Plateau seemed to have deepened, despite the intervention of the national leadership of the party.

Useni, who was recently appointed as the PDP leader in the state, called the meeting to brief the stakeholders on the decision of the PDP NWC on the crisis in the state chapter. But the meeting was tactically boycotted by key stakeholders and state officials of the party. All the elected members of the party, especially in the state House of Assembly, House Representatives and the Senate, as well as notable members like Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Sir Fidelis Tapgun and Senator Jonah Jang, were absent.

A member of the party, who spoke with Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity, said the appointment of Useni as the leader of the party in the state did not go down well with some prominent stakeholders, hence the reason many of them did not turn out for the meeting. He added that Sango is also seen as a crony of Useni. “I want to tell you that until Sango resigns, many other leaders will not attend PDP meeting under his leadership. So, the better he resigned on timely to give peace a chance,” he said.

Nigerian Tribune