#PDP: The road to self-destruction As Boy Loaf warns that the North intimidating Jonathan would prove volatile The crises that cooked underground in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over time blew open last Saturday at the party’s national convention with the formation of a splinter group.And expectedly, the aftershock has not ceased as flaks keep flying from both sides over the week. But beyond the gimmicks and posturing, observers of the events feel this time round, the problem would not just go away like in the past the party used to brand everything going the left side as part of the family business of the party. This time, it looks like the matter has become not like the family affair. It is about power in 2015, and there might be no let-up unless the conditions are right. And one of the major planks of the trouble is that President Goodluck Jonathan should rescind his resolve to run in 2015. Five agents of split Before now, the five prominent governors of some states of the North had been clear and vocal that they had a pact with Jonathan not to run in 2015 to give way for someone from the North to take over. But other sides of the divide argue and challenge the protagonists of this position on pact to produce their evidence. The major champion of the campaign to stop Jonathan is the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu. He in liaison with three others – Sule Lamido (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) had been up in arms and taking tours round the states in the region and beyond to garner support to ensure Jonathan is ousted. Crises foretold Some months ago, after some of their meetings and planning, the four governors, through Aliyu had boasted that they would cripple the PDP in 2015 if Jonathan sticks to his guns. The threats had not been disguised as they boasted that it is in their hands to decide who wins next presidential election in the country. Moreover, what signposted the coming of this trouble was the registration of the PDM, a new party the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) adopted into the pack. PDM is not a new block in the political game of the nation. It derives animation from the Shehu Yar’Adua days and had always been known as a major bloc of the PDP. Loyalists of the bloc include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. With special appeal from the North that still represents the vestiges of the Yar’Adua political leaning, registering the party was like incorporating an alternative PDP. And the membership make-up assembled at the Yar’Adua Centre last Saturday gave credence to that speculation. PDM comes alive Those in the know of the workings of the PDM and its sudden registration that was followed closely by the split don’t see any coincidence in the events. What they see is a planned and carefully executed intention to form a party that would serve as alternative to the PDP and whose existence would mean the whittling down of the clout, reach and spread of PDP. That just happened and the plot right now is that if the matters are not resolved in the PDP, which its likelihood is rather slim, the PDM would have taken off with foundation members as the seven governors and the other leaders that pulled out of the Eagle Square last Saturday. The gaming is that if PDM takes shape as expected, it would take just a little push to integrate it with the alliance opposition platform, the APC that came on board early last month. Should the two agree to field one presidential candidate in 2015, an integrated force of the two would surely send PDP out of power. “What we target is to leave Jonathan and his men to their PDP. If the plan goes well, we would pull the rug off his feet. They call the PDP a mega party that cannot be ruffled. We would make sure they keep the name just for decoration. By the time the alliances come up in 2015, there is no magic that would keep PDP ruling,” a member of the ‘New PDP’ from Kebbi State told Saturday Sun last at the Yar’Adua Centre. And apart from the governors that have declared, feelers are rife that more are already with tem and just watching the scene before finally making their stance known. Bad strategy A former national officer of the party that just left the office after last Saturday convention blamed what is happening in PDP on poor strategy. “You can never know it all,” he said. “What caused the problem is the attitude of the PDP leaders who gave the president the impression that they can always scheme things his own way. They tell him that nothing would happen and therefore even when they should apply the compromise strategy to checkmate a bad situation, they remain adamant that nothing would happen. That is what caused the problem. These men that pulled out gave the signs early enough to have been called for discussion. But the leaders felt they won’t do anything.” The leader pointed out that “at a gathering as large as the national convention, no attempt is made at recognizing a former Vice President. That is bad politics. Atiku came and sat on his own and none of the leaders acted like they knew him or that he is relevant to the party”. He insists that the winner-takes-it-all attitude of the leadership of the part caused the problem. Unification platform A lot of signs show that what happened last Saturday would not be just a flash in the pan. For instance, many political foes have found new relationships and accords. A good example is the former President Olusegun Obasanjo factor in the game. He was said to have toured Sokoto and Jigawa states a little before the incident. And moreover, the rapport between Obasanjo and Lamido has never been a secret. On May 29, while the president hosted Nigerian leaders, Obasanjo was in Dutse with Lamido and made a statement many interpreted as endorsing him for the 2015 presidential race. A factor or incident that neutralized the long animosity between Obasanjo and Atiku on one hand and Obasanjo and the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi would not be taken for granted. Likewise, Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako and Atiku have never been the best of political allies. So for anything to make them sink their differences and coalesce means more than a passing phase of political intrigue. Boy Loaf speaks Discussing this matter for the press seems to be a thing many PDP stalwarts avoid like a plague. It took so much persuasion to make any of them talk. Even the few that accepted to pleaded that their names would not be aligned with the comment. But there is one person that would not chew words on this. He is Gen. Boy Loaf, the top notch Niger Delta agitator and militant leader. In an interview with Saturday Sun, the General as he is popularly called warned of the consequences of coercing Jonathan to drop his ambition to run the 2015 presidential election. He said: “I am not a politician, but I know Jonathan has the right to contest if he wants. I would plead with Nigerians from the other parts of the nation who feel they have the right to decide for him what to do not to awaken the sleeping dog. President Jonathan has every right to decide for himself what to do in 2015. If he feels like contesting in the race he should do that without hindrance. Likewise, if he decides to step out, nobody compels him to run but what should be avoided is anybody or group using intimidation to make him leave the race when he feels like contesting. What is going on in PDP and 2015 is like the incident where the OPL 245 has remained an issue in Nigeria because it was given to a South South man. When that has been taken from him, Gen. TY Danjuma who has a more lucrative block and has boasted that the money he makes from it is so much that he does not know what to do with still has his own because he is from the north. I would warn that neither the PDP nor the north should adopt any means that would cause trouble and make the South South feel their son is treated like a second class Nigerian in the 2015 presidential race. We would do anything to resist that and we only wish it does not happen because it might lead to some other things we never expected or would like to have in the nation,” he cautioned. #THESUNNEWS Supporting: facebook/APCNig
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:44:19 +0000
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