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Ahead of PDP National Convention:Anti-Obasanjo Group woos Yar’Adua
Stories by Paul Uwadima
In a bid to counter the domineering influence of the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and to ensure a level playing field ahead of the party’s national convention, some National Assembly legislators belonging to the Integrity Group has had private audience with President Umaru Yar’Adua last week at the Aso Rock Villa.
A presidency source told The Abuja Inquirer that the legislators listed several grievances they have against the former President and the out-going national chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, among which include the lack of due process in the composition of the commi-ttees for the conduct of the party’s national conven-tion. They told the President that there is no way the present handlers of the national convention can conduct a transparent election that could be considered credible in the eyes of Nigerians and the world.
They also demanded for a paradigm shift in the ways that the party was being run over the past few years and called on the president to support those of them from the National Assembly who are ready to work with him as the party leader to institutionalize internal democracy in the party.
The source however could not confirm whether the legislators also asked the president to throw his weight behind their preferred candidate for the national chairmanship position, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim. President Yar’Adua is said to have told the legislators that he hinges his administration on the rule of law and due process because that is the only way demo-cracy can be deepened in the country while assuring them that the national convention of the party would be transparent.
He also assured them that he has the confidence that those saddled with the responsibility of conducting the elections for the various positions in the party would follow due process as contained in the party’s constitution.
The Integrity Group who achieved nationwide fame when they spearheaded the resignation of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Patricia Etteh, who was indicted over allegation of corruption, are among the most vocal PDP members to voice their opposition to the composition of the committees for the conduct of the convention.
It was not the first time that they are challenging the position of the leadership of the party as the group also opposed the party leaders when the national chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, ordered them to support the then embattled Speaker Etteh and they refused to back down. Their spokesman, Hon. Farouk Lawan, said penultimate week that the group could go to court to stop the convention if their grievances were not addressed.
However as at press time the group has not gone ahead with their threat even as Abuja Inquirer can confirm that their grievances appears to be of little concern to the party leadership ahead of the convention this week.
The PDP national chairman- ship election this year is probably going to be the most contentious in the party’s short history. The struggle for the control of the party by the contending forces is made more intense because the current leader of the party, President Umaru Yar’Adua, is believed to be unwilling to interfere in the selection process of the national chairman or any other position in the party. If the President were the meddlesome type like his predecessor, everybody would have fallen in line behind his preferred candidate.
By throwing open the field, the president has advertently or inadvertently opened up the party for grabs. The contending forces are equally formidable – former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida. This convention would provide the opportunity for the two leaders to flex muscles, but the cards seems to be stacked against Babangida because Obasanjo’s supporters are in charge of the convention, yet in the game of politics like sports, it is never over until it is over.
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