Politics: Leadership crisis: Is PDP heading to its doom?

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is presently enmeshed in leadership crisis. SAM­UEL OGIDAN takes a critical look at the scenario.

The search for a replacement for for­mer PDP Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, who resigned in May 2015, after the party lost woefully to the All Progressives Congress during the general elections has put the party at crossroads.

The controversy trailing Mu’azu’s replace­ment, who hails from the North-east, may either make or mar the party, if the narra­tives are not put in the right perspective.

PDP Constitution is explicit on how to replace an elective official of the party, who resigned, but selfish interest and impunity have overridden the general good of the par­ty members, a development that has set par­ty members against one another.

Impunity, which has been the bane of the party still subsists at this period the party is trying to find its bearing and put things in the right perspective against the challeng­es ahead.

Section 47(5) of the party’s Constitution provides that: “Where a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the party, the Executive Committee at the appropriate level shall ap­point another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from, pending the conduct of election to fill the vacancy.”

When Mu’azu resigned, the party lead­ership made Secondus, who was the Dep­uty Chairman to act for a period of three months, but seven months down the line, Secondus is still the Acting Chairman with­out plan to relinquish the position.

This development made the former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak to challenge Secondus’ continued stay in office as the Acting Chairman in court. The court had directed that Secondus should vacate the office within 14 days for Gulak or any other person so chosen from the North-east zone to complete the tenure of the re­gion.

Secondus had appealed the case and also filed for stay of execution, which it was gath­ered was not granted, but the case like a ping pong game has continued, while the party is making frantic effort to douse the tension generated by the litigation.

The party is currently at a crossroad, as stakeholders of the party, who do not want Gulak, suspected to be a mole, have been searching for a replacement from among its members from the North-east.

The North-east caucus of the party had recently held a meeting in Gombe to select a replacement, but unfortunately, the meet­ing deadlocked, for the simple reason that PDP governors from the zone did not ar­rive at a compromise.

Those among the list vying for the posi­tion to replace Mu’azu, it was gathered, are Abdullahi Jalo, Sen. Saidu Kumo and Prof. Rufai Alkali from Gombe. Adamawa candi­dates are, Ahmed Gulak and Sen. Paul Wap­ana. Yobe candidate is Amb. Umaru Dam­agun while Bauchi candidate is Sen. Bala Mohammed.

Confusion in the party:

Would the party hold its National Exec­utive Committee (NEC) meeting on Tues­day to elect a Chairman from the North-east to complete Mu’azu’s tenure? This and some other questions have been on the lips of political watchers as the National Working Committee (NWC) members, it was gath­ered, are scheming to hang on to power, with the shifting of its National Executive Com­mittee (NEC) meeting.

Even with the shifting, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party had, however, held its meeting on Wednesday against the directive of the party, which says that the BoT meeting would be held on Tuesday next week. The BoT held its meeting on Wednes­day, sacked its acting Chairman, Haliru Bel­lo Mohammed and replaced him with the Secretary, Walid Jubrin as Acting Chairman, pending when the board would elect a sub­stantive Chairman.

Personal interests, it was alleged, were the reasons why the NWC keep shifting the meeting. It was also gathered that even though the presidency is zoned to the North in 2019, the region is still plotting to retain the party chairmanship position. The South-south on the other hand wants to keep the position against the provision of the Consti­tution, which directed that when an elective officer resigns, he should be replaced with somebody from the same zone. The South-west on the other hand is not relenting, but lamented that since the establishment of the party, the zone has never been Nation­al Chairman.

Amidst this leadership crisis, there are indications that members of the NWC are lobbying the party leaders for extension of their tenure.

The meeting of the key statutory organs of the party that would have ratified the timetable for the congresses and National Convention of the party where new officers will be elected to replace the present NWC was unceremoniously shifted to next week by the NWC.

In the new schedule, the meeting of the National Caucus of the party has been shift­ed to Monday, February 15, while the meet­ing of the Board of Trustees (BoT) will now hold on Tuesday morning (February 16). The National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting will hold at 2pm on the same Tues­day.

Findings at the PDP National Secretari­at revealed that the NWC is proposing a six-month extension which will expire in Sep­tember.

According to sources at the party secre­tariat, the postponement of the meetings of the statutory organs till next week is to give the NWC members adequate time to lobby leaders of the party for tenure elongation.

Already, the NWC has secured the sup­port of elected PDP deputies for the tenure elongation plot and has paid almost all their outstanding allowances to “buy them over.”

With this narrative, is PDP not heading to destruction? Would 2019 meet the par­ty still standing? Nigerians are watching to see the outcome of the crisis currently brew­ing in the party.