Convention deepens PDP crisis

The special convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Abuja on Saturday went with strong indications that it might have deepened the crisis within the ruling party.

The event was marked by drama of all sorts, with delegates of some states storming out of the venue, while some big names in the party did not show up at all.

Sokoto, Jigawa, Kano, Niger delegates walk out
Delegates of the party from Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa and Niger states walked out of the convention venue moments after the opening speeches and ceremony.

Governors of the affected states also followed their delegates out of the Eagles Square venue with reports that their decision to quit the event was connected with an alleged unified list of aspirants being circulated to the delegates.

Sunday Tribune was told that the governors were angry over the disqualification of Chief Sam Sam Jaja, who was to contest for the deputy national chairmanship position, and that it was maintaining ostentatious unity even as signals indicated that it had not fully reunited its aggrieved members or resolved the controversy over the 2015 presidential ticket.

While the aggrieved governors were fully in attendance, their countenance confirmed that all is still not well with the party, as a peaceful demonstration was led by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State around the podium.

Delegates who followed Kwankwaso were shouting Kwankwaso, Amaechi, Lamido, while the governor and his deputy, Alhaji Ibrahim Ganduje, raised hands to appreciate cheers from loyalists.

There had earlier been a report that the aggrieved governors of the party had concluded arrangements to float another political party, should things not go the way they expected at the convention.

Why we called the convention –Tukur
National chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, in an address to the delegates, said the special national convention was convened following the disapproval of the processes adopted for the election of some of its national officers during its last national convention by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to Tukur, “this is the first time this is happening in the anal of Nigeria’s history to repeat the entire electoral process of any political party. PDP is, indeed, showing a good example for other political parties. Apart from this, the special convention is coming on a very official and significant date which coincides with its birthday. The party was launched on August 31, 1998. That was 15 years ago.”

Alhaji Tukur declared that despite the developmental and security challenges in the country, the PDP-led Federal Government, under President Goodluck Jonathan, had been able to record giant strides in all sectors. He identified such sectors as education, road construction, health care services, transportation, aviation, security and a host of others, citing the recent release of N130 billion for the need assessment of the nation’s universities and payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, in order to boost university education in the country, as a living testimony to the commitment of the administration to the need of the people.

While stating that the PDP had always triumphed over evils and would continue to repeat the feat, Alhaji Tukur urged party members to brace up for “the enormous challenges ahead” and to avoid unnecessary distractions through internal wrangling.

“There will always be internal wrangling. But there will always be solutions through our established internally-built crisis resolution mechanism,” he said.

Alhaji Tukur equally stressed the need for party members at all levels to imbibe the spirit of discipleship, in order to sustain democracy in the country, saying “both the leaders and the followers are stakeholders; we must work together in the interest of the party and to take the country to a greater height.”

No manipulation, convention committee promises
Earlier, chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Professor Jerry Gana, had said it was organised “because of the PDP’s respect for democracy; because of the party’s respect for due process and because of the observation that were made by the INEC over our 2012 national convention; we have to repeat the entire process.”

According to Professor Gana, “no other party does it like the PDP; they select themselves; they manipulate themselves; they anoint themselves. But in the PDP, we follow the rule of law and do our things openly.”

We back President Jonathan –PDP governors
Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio, declared the support of governors of the party for President Jonathan “in his efforts at implementing the transformation agenda of his government and his future ambition.”

Akpabio noted that the governors were the president’s foot-soldiers and that they would deliver their states to the party as they had done in previous elections.
He said the governors were happy with the president, especially for retaining the democratic structures after the declaration of state of emergency in three states, adding that the president had done too well for the nation.

Describing the PDP as Nigeria, Akpabio affirmed that the best states in Nigeria were the PDP-led, adding that “it is only the PDP that allows contest to determine its leaders. We don’t sit in the room and pick our leaders; we vote. Even when we have disagreement, we resolve it.”

Only PDP has internal democracy – Anenih
Chairman Board of Trustee (BoT) of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, also commended “the culture of democracy prevailing within the party,” affirming that it was the only party with internal democracy.

The PDP, he said, as a party, might disagree, but that it had structure for conflict resolution, appealing to members to interact with one another to amicably iron out their differences.

“As the chairman of the Board of Trustees, I stand for party discipline and internal democracy. I have always canvassed that internal democracy is key to a virile political party. This is what the PDP stands for. This is a key ingredient of our political culture and I urge our party members to dialogue and unite as we all belong to the same family,” Anenih said.

Mark, Tambuwal promise good governance
Senate president, David Mark, and House of Representatives speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, in thier goodwill messages at the beginning of the convention, promised that the party’s caucus in the National Assembly would continue to pursue good governance in the interest of the electorate that voted the party into office.

Mark told delegates that the lawmakers would continue to make legislations that would ensure delivery of dividends of democracy to the citizenry.

According to him, the lawmakers were committed patriots who would continue to ensure the implementation of the transformation agenda.

Also speaking, Tambuwal said “we shall continue to support good governance. This is a cardinal responsibility of the House of Representatives and the party itself. We assure party members and Nigerians in general that the party’s caucus in the House will not waver in pursuing the path of good governance.”

Atiku made convention
There was an initial confusion over delegate list for Adamawa State, which was, however, resolved as former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar made the convention.
The arrival of the Turaki Adamawa was officially announced with many delegates thronging the Adamawa stand to catch a glimpse of the former leader.

Fracas in Anambra stand
The crisis rocking the Anambra State chapter of the party reared its head again with rival governorship candidates of the party and their supporters engaging in free for all.

The confrontation arose when supporters of the governorship candidate of the party for the state, Chief Tony Nwoye, challenged the presence of another factional governorship candidate, Dr Andy Uba, and his supporters who had earlier been suspended by the party.

The stand, which had the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, and other dignitaries, took close to 25 minutes to calm down and not before exchange of hot words that graduated into throwing of punches.

Nwoye, the party’s official governorship candidate, was to intervene, pleading for calm, while the self-acclaimed godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba, later waded into the fight also.

Chief Uba, who supported his brother, Andy Uba, in the unrecognised faction of the party, mediated in the brawl, declaring that he was the political mentor of all the PDP factions in the state.

Nwoye explained that Chief Uba remained his political mentor and that the root of the crisis would be amicably addressed.
“We have issues, but we cannot continue to wash our dirty linen in public. We will sort out ourselves and the party will win the forthcoming elections, despite the current disagreements,” Nwoye noted.

Kano delegates in open brawl
Situation within the Kano stand of the party became rowdy for more than 40 minutes, indicative of division along the lines of pro and anti-Kwankwaso caucuses.

Some party delegates opposed to the anti-Presidency stance of the mainstream of the party in the state were reportedly confronted by supporters of the governor.

It took the intervention of senior leaders of the party to calm the situation. A loyalist of the president, Ambassador Aminu Wali, intervened and resolved the feud.
Yobe factions arrive united

In another curious development at the convention, the three factions of the party in Yobe State arrived the venue united, after reportedly resolving their differences.

Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, had disclosed this to Sunday Tribune at the Yobe stand.

The three factions, he said, met and agreed to unite so that they could take on the ruling All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).

According to the minister, who was surrounded by the delegates, the factional problem had robbed the party of victory in previous elections.

“You can see that we are one now. Waziri, myself and others are one; we will lead Yobe to defeat Geidam in 2015,” he said.

Amaechi absent at convention
The party also, on Saturday, reaffirmed its suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and his faction from the party. The Felix Obuah leadership of the party in Rivers led delegates of the state to the convention, while the party officially announced that the governor remained suspended.

Delegates of the party from the state attended in specially-made white attires with inscriptions of the new deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Uche Secondus.

Osun leaders close ranks
Leaders of the party from Osun State demonstrated a new sense of closeness as two of the leading aspirants, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, hugged each other repeatedly even as drummers surrounded the Osun and Oyo stands, raising political songs and messages.

Senator Omisore told Sunday Tribune that the party in Osun State was set to defeat the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election.

According to him, “the party is united and we are set for the election. Those expecting us to fight are making big mistakes. We are one family and we are resolved issues. We will present one of us and victory is sure,” Omisore said.

Alhaji Akinbade echoed Omisore’s position, disclosing that that party was focused on taking the state back from the APC.

“The PDP is a government in waiting. The people of the state are waiting for us to liberate them,” he said.

-Punchwp_posts

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Posted by admin on Sep 1 2013. Filed under Party Politics, Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry