By Omoniyi Salaudeen
The survival of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Nigeria’s single largest opposition party is very much in doubt. With its current deficit of trust and ongoing blame game, its future outlook is full of dark foreboding.
Characteristic of its usual response to losing an electoral contest, the party immediately relapsed into another round of crisis soon after its defeat by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Since then, all reconciliation moves have amounted to naught, as peace remains largely elusive within its rank and file.
In continuation of the internal wrangling arising from the intrigues that culminated in the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate and his consequential defeat, the party stakeholders have been engaged in a blame game.
Some recalcitrant members like the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the Kogi State governorship candidate in the 2023 election, Senator Dino Melaye, are out rightly working at cross purposes.
In his latest outburst, the former governor of Rivers, who has been a thorn in the flesh of the party, threatened to cause crisis for governors supporting his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, in their respective states.
Melaye, in his usual eccentric behaviour, in a tweet on X accused the acting chairman of the party, Umar Damagun, and others of being the brain behind the festering crisis and declared the PDP dead.
He wrote: “End of the road for PDP as Damagun, Bature and Anyanwu irredeemably destroyed the party. We will talk about the commercialisation and privatisation of PDP. PDP is now once upon a time.”
In the same breadth, a former Deputy National Chairman, Bode George, in his recent tirade, blamed Atiku for all that went wrong in the party due to his alleged subversion of the power rotation agreed upon by the founding fathers. It’s an unending scenario.
However, concerned governors elected on the platform of the PDP, rising from their meeting held on Tuesday in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, stated: “We are irrevocably committed to working with the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, the PDP, in ensuring that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is conferred with all the privileges he is entitled to as a governor elected on the platform of our party, both at the state and national levels.”
All eyes are now on the newly constituted disciplinary and reconciliation committees to restore sanity in the party, as prior efforts to unite aggrieved members have hit the brickwall.
With the renewed effort to go out of the quagmire, the governors’ forum added: “It is inevitable for us to encourage dialogue and reconciliation continuously. The PDP has established mechanisms for addressing grievances and resolving conflicts, such as the recently constituted disciplinary and reconciliation committees.”
How far the committee can go in its search for peace is an ongoing debate in the polity.
Task before Reconciliation and Disciplinary Committee
In a fresh bid to restore peace in the party, on Wednesday, August 21, a new Reconciliation Committee chaired by a former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and a Disciplinary Committee led by Chief Tom Ikimi were inaugurated.
According to a statement from the PDP, the Reconciliation Committee will collaborate with other party organs to resolve internal conflicts, foster harmony among members, and promote cohesion. “The committee shall work to ensure that all internal conflicts are resolved and that the party remains united in its mission,” it stated.
The Disciplinary Committee, on the other hand, is charged with the responsibility of addressing misconduct and ensuring accountability within the party.
Ikimi, speaking on behalf of the committee, said: “Our focus will be on maintaining discipline and ensuring that every member adheres to the party’s principles.”
According to the party leadership, the inauguration of the two committees is a significant step toward reinforcing party unity and discipline.
Wike/Atiku factor
Stakeholders are sharply divided over Wike/Atiku factor in the renewed search for elusive peace in the party. While some members are calling for Wike’s expulsion for his anti-party activity, others have expressed opposition against the 2027 ambition of former President Atiku Abubakar.
Due to the backlash of the 2023 presidential election, Wike has remained a threat to the peace and stability of the party, behaving like a bull in the China shop.
The cause of the rivalry between him and Atiku is already a familiar story. In the aftermath of the last general elections, some concerned interest groups have been pushing for disciplinary action against the G-5 governors led by Wike, who include his former counterparts in Benue State, Samuel Ortom; Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Oyo State, Seyi Makinde over their alleged anti-party activities during the 2023 elections.
While confusion rages within the party as to the appropriate course of action, Wike has vowed not to allow anyone to take over the structure of the Peoples Democratic Party in his Rivers home state, threatening to cause political crisis for the governors in their various states for trying to interfere in the face-off between him and Fubara.
While reacting to the development, Wike fumed: “Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure of the PDP from us. But let me tell people, I hear some governors who say they will take over the structure and give back to somebody.
“I pity those governors because I will put fire in their states. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace – anything you see you take.”
The Rivers PDP has been in crisis following the fallout between Wike and his predecessor, who was absent at the party’s congress.
At the national level, the festering crisis has been further accentuated as a result of the ongoing rivalry between Wike and Atiku groups as they struggle to gain control of the machinery of the party in a renewed scheming for the 2027 election. The biggest dilemma is that some governors have been inadvertently caught up in the supremacy tussle.
While some are sympathetic to Atiku’s 2027 ambition, others are strongly opposed to it.
A sizeable number of party supporters have also lost faith in Wike, suspecting him of a grand plan to support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Under the current dicey situation, the Reconciliation Committee has an enormous task to whip these two actors to line.
For now, there is confusion as to what to do with Wike’s recalcitrant attitude as there is with Atiku’s presidential election. Despite his recent outburst and the seeming intransigence, the leadership believes that the suggestion for Wike’s suspension should be set aside since he has not been charged nor presented himself to the disciplinary committee.
In the meantime, the party is said to have summoned Wike to appear before the disciplinary committee for his alleged anti-party activities.
While speaking on Channels TV, the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, disclosed that the disciplinary committee led by Ikimi had already invited him to appear before it.
Abdullahi said the party had received several petitions against some members of the party who were allegedly involved in anti-party activities.
“Three weeks ago, we put up two committees: one for reconciliation and another for disciplinary action, and Nyesom Wike is one of the persons to face the disciplinary committee, which is headed by elder statesman, Chief Tom Ikimi.
“The disciplinary committee will look into issues of anti-party activities. We have been receiving petitions regarding anti-party activities or sabotaging the party throughout the primary, leading to where we are now. These petitions against Wike and other party members have been aggregated and sent to the committee,” he said.
There is cautious optimism that the Reconciliation Committee and Disciplinary Committee will use internal mechanisms to deal with the issues.
Move to replace Damagum
The security of the position of Umar Damagum as the acting national chairman of the PDP is currently under threat. Damagum’s emergence as the acting chairman followed the court’s suspension of the former National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in March last year shortly after the general elections.
Debate is still raging among the party faithful on whether the party should retain him in his position or he be replaced. Recently, he managed to survive his outer plot during the National Executive Committee meeting held in April due to the intervention of some governors. Consequently, both the PDP’s National Working Committee and National Caucus expressed confidence in Damagum to continue in his acting role.
Despite the vote of confidence, there is still some disquiet among the forces of change.
While many aggrieved party members had anticipated the NEC to take the ultimate decision to replace Damagum, the 98th NEC meeting attended by 353 accredited members, postponed the selection for his replacement for the North-central region till a later date.
Inside sources said that Damagum’s fate was decided during the meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum, which took place at the Akwa Ibom Governor’s lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
With all these intrigues, the PDP is already serving the public with what to expect in the 2027 general elections.
Renewed merger talk
Given the complexity of the crises bedeviling the party at the state and national level and its feeble role as an opposition, there is now a strong indication that the leadership may resume talk for a merger arrangement with the Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party to rescue Nigerians from the perceived maladministration of the ruling APC.
The Deputy National spokesman of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, stated this on Channels Television on Monday.
He said that the three opposition candidates in the last election – PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) – would put personal interests aside and form a formidable alliance to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
“You will see Peter Obi discussing with Atiku, you will see Peter Obi meeting with (Nasir) El-Rufai. Party management is a very difficult thing and we are doing the best in the quagmire that we have found ourselves. Rest assured, there would be light at the end of the tunnel. We have bitterly learnt our lessons,” he said.
While the PDP continues to grapple with its internal crisis, Nigerians are waiting to see what will be the outcome of the new merger discussion.
