election,
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
once dubbed the biggest political party in Africa
has never been the same again.
It has reeled from one crisis to the other with
thousands leaving the umbrella cover of the
party.
The party is striving to put its house in order, as
it holds its national convention today. But this is
also a source of division as there are to be two
parallel conventions; one in Port Harcourt, the
Rives State capital while a faction is holding
another in Abuja.
The party may be on the verge of an implosion,
and here are the five major reasons it has found
itself at the crossroads:
Absence of political patronage: The loss of
the presidential seat as well as several
governorship positions across the nation has
left the party depleted. The PDP also lost
the leadership of the National Assembly to
the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
These electoral losses have affected the
fortunes, membership and structure of the party
in almost all the 36 states. Thousands are
defecting every week from the party because
there is no patronage to dispense again.
Investigations revealed that hitherto die-hard
members and faithful of the party have become
restive and uncontrollable since there is no
more patronage to dispense to them.
A chairman of the party in the South West
confided in Ripples Nigeria that bringing
members together has become almost
impossible because there is “nothing again to
share.”
He said many foot soldiers and think-tanks of
the party have either jumped ship or gone into
political recesses because their “services have
become impossible to pay for.”
Fear of EFCC: A closely related factor is the
renewed vigour of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The
anti-corruption body has been exposing the
massive splurge the PDP was allegedly
perpetrating
Many chieftains of the party are facing trial or
answering questions from the anti-corruption
agency on their roles during the 2015 general
elections where billions allocated for anti-terror
war were said to have been diverted to
prosecuting the exercise.
This has left many governors and party office
holders wary of funding PDP activities.
Aggrieved members have also been exposing
perceived enemies to the anti-graft commission
to help eliminate them.
A point in case was the revelation by the acting
chairman, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff that former
Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana
got a loan of N500million for the party’s failed
fund raising drive towards the last general
election.
Battles for 2019: Like savvy politicians that
they are, many top shot in the party are
already positioning themselves for positions
in 2019. Sheriff, for example, is nursing a
presidential election. Governor Ayo Fayose is
toyng with the idea of running for the vice
presidential slot.
This permutation was what punctured the peace
moves at the last Board of Trustees (BoT)
meeting in Abuja. Sheriff accepted to drop the
constitutional amendment process in exchange
for extension of his tenure till 2018. He
accepted former Transport Minister, Chief Ojo
Maduekwe as BoT secretary and Senator Jibrin
Walid as chairman to accommodate others.
Everything appeared settled until some leaders
from the South West pointed out the
concessions will allow Sheriff consolidate for
two years as chairman till 2018 before stepping
aside to pick the presidential ticket.
That possibility was why the peace moves failed
and the centre could no longer hold.
Power tussles: It is no secret that governors
on the platform of the party and ex-
governors as well as ministers do not see
eye to eye. There is no love lost among
them. Governors believe the ex-governors
have had their time and should leave them to
lead the party.
The ex-governors and ministers, on their part,
believe they have invested time and resources in
the party, and therefore feel they deserve to
have a say in the running of the party.
Governors Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Rivers
are considered too powerful for comfort by ex-
office holders in the party.
Personal egos: While in power, the party
attracted so many big political fishes that
have since refused to swim together now
that there is nothing much to share again.
Fayose, for example, has become the rallying
point for the party in the South West. But
former vice chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode
George, cannot stand the ebullient politician’s
charm and courage.
In the north central, former Deputy Senate
President, Ibrahim Mantu is calling the shot
again. But former Governor Jonah Jang will
have none of him. This is why the crisis in the
Plateau State chapter has been intractable.
The inability to manage the many big egos in
the party has been an albatross for the once
viable party.
The post-convention days will tell the direction
the party is heading to, and how soon it may be
able to get back on its feet to provide a viable
opposition to the ruling party, in time for the
2019 elections
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