By Sebastine Agbefe
The crisis rocking the PDP took a dramatic turn when the BOT chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin announced his resignation
Senator Walid is an elder states man who relentlessly preached peace for his party to remain as one. He had in recent times made deliberate efforts to reconcile the feud within the ranks of the party. He is a man highly respected.
However, the decision to step aside is surprising and scary. What a sacrifice!
What Wike and the other aggrieved governors and stakeholders have said is that the national chairman, Senator Iyocha Ayu, must take a bow for obvious reasons— He said on national Television that if a presidential candidate emerges from the north he would resign to create a balance in the party.
Wike had made remarks few days ago that failure of the national chairman to honor his promise(s) would make it difficult for the party to be taken seriously by Nigerians should they go ahead with 2023 presidential campaigns.
A party whose national chairman would make a public promise and fail to honor same is not one Nigerians would vote for, because the national chairman ought to be the one to lead the campaigns. Any promises made during the campaigns would be considered by Nigerians as another deceit.
Wike and a host of others have also accused the national chairman of a lot of infractions committed against party members during the party’s primaries.
The national chairman has not carry himself as a father to all members of the party. He took side with some aspirants against others for pecuniary reasons.
For instance, in Delta state, PDP under Ayu’s supervision refused to honor or obey a federal high court ruling that disqualified Sheriff Francis Oboreowori and ordered the party to forward the name(s) of Chief David Edevwie as the Governorship candidate of the PDP Delta state to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In fact, it was PDP under the supervision of Iyocha Ayu, who appealed the judgment. How can PDP appeal a judgment that did not question the credibility of the primaries it conducted, but the credentials of the winner of the said primaries? How can PDP appeal a judgment when both defendant and plaintiff are members of PDP?
It is also believed that Ayu’s refusal to resign cannot be unconnected with the over fourteen billion naira generated from the sales of nomination forms before the primaries.
Wike’s group believe that Ayu’s greed has beclouded his sense of rationality and a man of that standing cannot continue as national chairman.
A birds eye view of the issues would reveal that the decision for senator Walid to step aside could be a blackmail. It could be an attempt to garner public opinion against Wike and his men. The resignation is not altruistic. It is a deviation from the main issues.
Atiku Abubakar and his men are on a dangerous ego trip. They are gambling with victory. If they desire victory, then they must come down from their high horses and show senator Iyocha Ayu the door. Senator Walid’s position is not one of the contentious issues.
Atiku should recall the impact they made on Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential election in 2015, when he alongside five serving governors walked out of PDP and joined the All Progressive Congress.
Alhaji Atiku must be reminded that a fight with five or more governors who are members of his party is a sign of failure stirring at him, especially so because he picked a very unpopular running mate who cannot pull any significant votes together.
His running mate, Governor Okowa is embattled back home. There’s little or nothing he can put on the table to stir the party to victory.
Okowa is facing the worst political crisis of his life. He is at loggerheads with the two former PDP governors of his state, chief James Ibori and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
All five former speakers of the state house of assembly (Chief Monday Igbuya, Rt. Hon Frank Enikorogha, Rt Hon. Basil Ganagana, Chief Olisa Imegwu and Chief Peter Onwusanya) are in the camp of Chief James Ibori and Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan .
Okowa has lost the three serving senators of the state. Five out of ten serving House of Representatives members from the state are at war with him.
He has also lost the confidence of the masses because of his abysmal performance as a governor.
Atiku must wake up and ask himself how governor Okowa would help him win votes from the southern states when he cannot boast of being in control of the votes in his own state.
Only, a reconciliation with the Wike’s camp can guarantee Atiku’s victory. A stitch in time saves nine!
