<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Southeast\nStuck With Atiku, Restructuring
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\nIt is not\nknown whether the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would\nundertake a post-mortem on its outing in the last general elections. But already,\nthe general impression among the chieftains is that it went into the election\nwithout a field marshal.
\n
\nOne of the\nfounding fathers of the party confided in The Guardian that what happened to\nPDP in December 10, 2017, contributed \u201cimmeasurably to the unexciting\nperformance\u201d of the party in the last election, especially the presidential\ncontest.
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\nThe\nsource, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, explained that the election of\nPrince Uche Secondus as the national chairman at the revival national convention\nat the Eagle Square, Abuja, showed how far the former ruling party had\ndegenerated.
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\nListing\nthe names and pedigrees of former national chairmen of the party from\ninception, particularly late Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Solomon Lar, the BoT member\nlamented that the national chairman was selected more out of narrow political\nconsiderations of some governors than the strategic interest of the party.
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\nHe argued\nthat when compared to the chairmen of the former opposition All Progressives\nCongress (APC), especially Chief Bisi Akande and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the\nPDP chairman presented in carriage and comportment as an aide, rather than the\nchief executive of a major national political party.
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\nThe source\nasserted that it was a combination of two factors, including need to move the\nparty after a prolonged leadership contest between Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and\nSenator Ahmed Makarfi\u2019s Caretaker Committee, as well as the urgency to ready\nthe platform for the 2019 presidential election that \u201cforced most stakeholders\nto swallow the flawed process\u201d that threw up Secondus as national chairman.
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\nAlthough\nSecondus was elected national chairman after polling 2, 000 out of 2, 396 votes\ncast during the elective convention, his emergence was shrouded in intrigues\nand horse-trading, especially the politics of micro-zoning to the Southwest\nthat preceded the convention.
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\nFrom the\naccounts of the PDP BoT member, it could be deduced that the party seems to be\nenjoying uneasy peace currently. To make matters more challenging, unlike when\nthe party did not have a rallying core in its leadership, the fact that former\nVice President Atiku Abubakar contested the 2019 presidential election, has\nplaced him at the pivot of the party\u2019s leadership.
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\nAdd to\nthat the perceived split between the national chairman and his state governor,\nNyesom Wike, who pulled all the strings, including rallying other state\ngovernors to adopt Secondus as consensus choice.
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\nIt would\nbe recalled that based on the tardiness of the withdrawal process by some\naspirants during the national convention, there were calls on the Makarfi\ncommittee to hand over to the BoT.
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\nPrior to\nhis decision to walk out of the convention, one of the aspirants, Prof. Tunde\nAdeniran, in a statement by his Director of Media and Publicity, Taiwo Akeju,\nrejected the electoral process, alleging that it was predetermined and\ncompromised through a so-called \u2018Unity List\u2019 prepared by Governor Wike and Ayo\nFayose.
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\nAdeniran\nexpected to be the beneficiary of the belated consensus arrangement made by\nsome aspirants from Southwest, including former Deputy National Chairman, Chief\nBode George; Gbenga Daniel; Rasheed Ladoja and Jimi Agbaje.
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\nThe\nSouthwest felt shortchanged by the insistence of the PDP governors on Secondus,\ndespite Fayose\u2019s charge to \u201closers to take their loss in good faith.\u201d
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\n2023 And\nSpectre Of Zoning
\nWITH the\nrecent apex court ruling that refused to upturn President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s\nelection in favour of PDP and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku\nAbubakar, the party seems to be walking in the shadows of another zoning\ncontroversy.
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\nSome party\nfaithful had observed that the PDP and Atiku would have performed better in\nSouthwest if only the presidential running mate was selected from the zone, not\nonly to atone for the misgivings of the December 9, 2017, elective national\nconvention but also give the stakeholders the currency to canvass for votes.
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\nBy 2021,\nPDP should be going for another national convention. That exercise would most\nlikely give indicators as to how the mind of the party leadership is working\nconcerning zoning of the presidency.
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\nAgainst\nthe backdrop of insinuations that the party was planning to retain the zoning\nformat that paired Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from Northeast and Mr. Peter Obi from\nthe Southeast on the 2019 Presidential ballot, PDP National Publicity\nSecretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said no such plan has been mooted.
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\nHe said:\n\u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, our party is yet to discuss the 2023 presidential\nelection, overtly or covertly, at any time whatsoever. If anything, the PDP is\ncurrently working with Nigerians on how to win the elections in Kogi and\nBayelsa states and will not be distracted by individuals who found themselves\noperating in the highest offices of the land, but failing in governance.\u201d
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\nThe party\u2019s\ndenunciation followed the discovery that certain elements in the ruling party\nthat are opposed to powershift to the South decided to fly the kite that PDP\nwas divided on the issue.
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\nElder\nstatesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai told The Guardian that while it would be\ninappropriate for the ruling party to select its candidate from the North after\nPresident Buhari, people should not lose sight of the fact that political\nparties are wont to choose candidates that would help them win an election.
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\nYakassai\ncontended that circumstances that predisposed the last military administration\nto ensure that Southwest produced the President in 1999 are no longer\nobtainable, stressing that being a democratic dispensation, debates and\nconcessions play great roles.
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\nGauging from\nthe current situation of PDP, the predominant opinion of stakeholders in\nSoutheast is that the Atiku\/Obi ticket should be represented.
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\nA former\nSoutheast governor who did not want his name in print said despite the\nambivalent posturing of incumbent governors in the zone, Obi remains a better\nalternative, adding that retaining the Atiku\/Obi combination is the safest way\nto avert the infighting that could divide the party if the presidency was zoned\nto Southeast.
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\nAlready,\nperhaps in a bid to quash the Atiku\/Obi arrangement, some of the second term\ngovernors are said to be scheming to serve as running mate to any other\npresidential candidate from the north.
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\nAnd this\nposturing has given the pervading impression that the Southeast was not ready\nfor the 2023 Presidency, even as other stakeholders in the zone believe that\nthe country\u2019s current structure would not enable a Nigerian President from\nSoutheast extraction to exercise authority.
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\nA former\nSenate President, Adolphous Wabara, has also aligned himself with the sentiment\nthat 2023 was not ample time for Southeast to aspire for the nation\u2019s top job.
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\nShort of\nadmitting that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar reserves the right of first refusal when\nthe considerations for the zoning of PDP\u2019s presidential candidate would come up\nin 2023, Wabara argued that being ill-prepared, Southeast lacks the basis to\nengineer negotiations for the Presidency.
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\nHe stated:\n\u201cAs a matter of fact, we have been given our permanent place and limits in our\ncountry called Nigeria. However, Nd\u2019Igbo believes that a wise patient dog eats\nthe fattest bone because this too shall pass.\u201d
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\nThe\nStrutting North
\nThe odds\nseem to be stacked in favour of PDP more than the ruling party. Despite the\ngrandstanding by some APC chieftains, especially Governor Nasir el Rufai, there\nis a growing perception in the north that leaving the Presidency in the zone\nafter President Buhari\u2019s eight years would amount to a third term.
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\nHowever,\nsome Presidency cabals fault el Rufai in his quest to succeed Buhari, saying\nthat the Northeast should be considered in the spirit of equity and fairness.
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\nSome in\nthe Northeast APC are disposed to having the Presidency zoned to the South,\nparticularly the Southwest. Although the immediate past Governor of Bauchi\nState, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar, denied that he was being groomed for the\nPresidency, the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation\n(SGF), Babachir Lawal, said it would be in the interest of APC to zone the 2023\nPresidency to Southwest, adding that former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola\nTinubu, would make a good President.
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\nYet, while\nthe likes of the former SGF and Adamawa State APC organising secretary, Ahmad\nLawan, root for zoning to Southwest, some former governors, particularly,\nSenators Danjuma Goje, Ibrahim Gaidam, and Kashim Shettima, are said to be\ninterested.
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\nPrior to\nthe nomination of the former Vice President as PDP standard-bearer at the Port\nHarcourt convention, after Senator Makarfi was persuaded to mellow his\nambition, former Governors Sule Lamido, and Attahiru Bafarawa, Ibrahim\nDankwambo and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, were the other prominent presidential\naspirants from the core north.
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\nNone of\nthe above politicians, except Alhaji Bafarawa, has disclosed that he would no\nlonger seek elective office.
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\nAlthough\nsources said APC plans to delay the selection of its Presidential candidate in\n2022 to see how PDP solves its own puzzle, the idea of retaining the Atiku\/Obi\nticket sounds a plausible option.
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\nThat\noption depends on how far presidential aspirants from Northwest are persuaded\nto bury their ambitions and the possibility that no other candidate with proven\ncapacity would arise from the northeast to challenge Atiku.
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\nOn paper,\nthe calculation favours the Atiku\/Obi ticket, but the snag is the insinuation\nthat the Buhari Presidency could prop up a candidate from the Southeast with a\nview to breaking the zone.
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\nIn the\nevent of such a scenario, the challenge would be whether the Southeast could\nretain the bloc vote for Atiku\/Obi or align with the federal might available to\nthe prospective APC flagbearer from the zone.
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\nIt would\nthen boil down to a vote between Igbo presidency and restructuring, which the\nAtiku\/Obi option represents. As the variables would keep changing in the next\nthree years, all options, as Americans would say, remain on the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Southeast Stuck With Atiku, Restructuring It is not known whether the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would undertake a post-mortem on its outing in the last general elections. But already, the general impression among the chieftains is that it went into the election without a field marshal. One of the founding fathers of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n