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PDP state congresses of controversies
In this report, Assistant Editor, Paul UWADIMA, writes on the recent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, state congresses held across the country ahead of the party’s national convention that was marred by violence and multiple congresses in some states, indicating that the old problems of the party has refused to go away despite President Yar’Adua, an apostle of due process, leading the party.
When The Abuja Inquirer spoke with the Chairman, Senators Forum, Senator Alex Kadiri, on his observations on the state of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, across the country, he said the root of the problems in most of the states is greed.
“There is enough for everyone but there is not enough for every one’s greed”, he said. He accused the state governors of being at the root of the problems as they do not allow the state chairmen of the party the freehand to run the party. However what Kadiri did not add as being a major factor in the simmering infighting in PDP is the role of godfathers who arrogate on themselves on who gets what in the states.
In Enugu State there was parallel congresses with one of them led by the state Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, in which has in attendance most of the National Assembly legislators from that state including the Deputy Senate President while the other one was led by Enugu State godfather and former Governor of the state and now Senator, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. The two congresses produced two leaderships.
The Chime group elected Engr. Vita Abba from Enugu North Senatorial Zone and Chief Dons Udeh among 27 others as chairman and secretary respectively while the Nnamani group elected Mr. Ray Nnaji from Enugu East Senatorial zone as its chairman. The fight between Chime and Nnamani is reminiscent of the one that Nnamani fought with Second Republic governor of Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, who fancied himself as the godfather of the state.
In the end Nnamani shoved Nwobodo aside, marking the beginning of the eclipsing of the illustrious political career of the one popularly known as simply “Jim” to his admirers. Many believe that Nnamani may soon taste the treatment he meted out to him.
Similarly in Anambra State it is alleged that the state assembly that is allegedly on the firm grips of the former governor of the state, Dr. Andy Uba, held the state congress without the support of the state chairman of the party who decried the fact that the executives of the party emerged through a consensus. The chairman while still re-emphasizing his loyalty to the state’s godfather, Dr. Uba, has called for a review of the whole exercise. The story is also the same in Oyo State where Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu has a stranglehold on the party he was not able to stop the emergence of three parallel congresses in the state. Adedibu led one faction and there is the Yekini Adeojo faction and the Taofeek Arapaja faction. Adedibu insisted that candidates for positions in the party must be selected by consensus. He argued that the incumbent executives in the South West of the party have performed well and should all be returned unopposed, stating that the party will not conduct any elections to replace them.
In Lagos State despite a court injunction, the congress went ahead and the battle was between the faction led by the national vice chairman PDP South West, Chief Olabode George, and the party’s governorship candidate in the 2007 election, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.
In Edo State there was also parallel congresses which elected different sets of executives. The faction loyal to the former chairman PDP Board of Trustee, Chief Tony Anenih, elected Chief Don Orbih as the state chairman while the faction loyal to the state governor, Prof. Oseijehmen Osunbor, elected Edward Sadoh as the state chairman.
In Nasarawa State, the exercise was marred by violence leading to the death of at least two persons while several others sustained injuries. The violence resulted to the suspension of the congress in some parts of the state. Imo State congress could not hold as a result of Imo State court presided over by Justice Charles Durueke which issued exparte injunction restraining the leadership of the PDP from conducting the congress in the state.
With the series of allegations of malpractices that characterized the congresses the new executive of the party that emerged from the recent national convention of the party has its work cut out for them as they have a lot to do to bring peace and harmony back to the rank and file of the PDP family.
It would be recalled that the ruling party have been bedeviled for years by internal wrangling both at the state and the national level. The former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as the leader of the party for eight years failed to bring the party together and many blamed him for being behind most of the crisis that the party had to grapple with during the period. Under the former president, many founding members were literally forced to leave the party. The “casualities” include the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former national chairman of the party, Chief Solomon Lar; former national chairman of the party, Chief Audu Ogbe; former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi; former Speaker House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali Na’Abba; former governor of Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo; former governor of Abia State, Dr.Orji Uzo Kalu, among several others. The former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali Na’Abba are among the most notable returnees to the party the result of the reconciliation effort of President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Since his assumption of office as the President of the country and the leader of the party that brought him to office, President Yar’Adua has made the reconciliation of the party with its former aggrieved members that left the party. The president initiated and ensured that a reconciliation committee was set up to bring back the former members to the fold. The Reconciliation Committee was headed by the Second Republic Vice President and former Board of Trustee Chairman, Dr. Alex Ekwueme. The committee traversed the six geo-political zones in the country, collating the grievances of aggrieved members and negotiating terms of their return to the party.
Most of the aggrieved members hinged their return to the party on the whittling down what they considered the overbearing influence of the former President, Chief Obasanjo on the party. Many of them demanded that the former president be removed as the Board of Trustee chairman. It was a demand that the party leadership cannot grant for now which accounted for the little success that the Reconciliation Committee achieved.
The recent congresses also exposed the deepening crisis in the party in many of the states which could be exploited to the detriment of the party by the opposition. It would be recalled that Anambra State PDP lost the state to All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, due to in-fighting between the then godfather of the state with the then PDP governor, Dr. Chris Ngige. Similarly a PDP dominated Imo State last year lost the governorship seat to little known PPA due to internal crisis within the party. As a matter of fact the South East Zone that was predominately PDP in 1999 could only boast of two state governors’ seat by 2008 with a likelihood that the party may lose Enugu State where the Appeal Court is expected to rule soon on the electoral victory of the state governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime.
The method and approach to use to settle the rift that have developed in the party following the recent state congresses should be the top priority of the new national chairman of the party who is emerging at a time of renewed crisis in the party. How the new chairman handles the crisis would determine the future of the so-called Africa’s biggest political party.
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