The political solution sought by former President Goodluck Jonathan into the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) isn’t going as planned, writes EMAMEH GABRIEL.
ould this be an end of an era? Many pundits have continued to ask as emerging indications show that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might be coasting to its death. Several attempts by concerned individuals, groups and the founding fathers of the party to calm the raging storm in the party and prevent it from submerging continues to fail.
It has been a vigorous power play between the two camps led by Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff and Sen. Ahmed Makarfi. The bone of contention is the seat of the national chairman, which they are not ready to let go of.
Leadership Sunday recalls that after the Port Harcourt appeal judgment that authenticated the chairmanship of Sheriff, erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan had promised to lead in the resolution of the conflict to bring peace back to the party. This was coming shortly after the Prof. Jerry Ganah-led committee submitted its report to the former president on the way forward to revive the ailing party and restore confidence in hearts of its supporters ahead of 2019.
It was then followed by a proposal from the governor Seriaki Dickson led-committee on reconciliation. The committee had agreed to adopt a political solution to resolve the protracted leadership crisis.
Following this development, stakeholders of the party held several meetings to clear the coast ahead of the much anticipated April 6, 2017 reconciliation meeting which was to be hosted by Jonathan in Abuja. It was supposed to be the first time after several months that both factions of the party would sit and talk in front of their supporters and other neutral bodies.
Unfortunately, while many thought that the meeting would be a major step towards returning peace to the party, it turned out to be the genesis of a fresh crisis in the party.
Jonathan had given his opening remarks before the arrival of Sheriff at the venue of the meeting. According to the programme of events, Jonathan’s speech was supposed to be followed by the an address by the national chairman, before the Chairman of the National Working Committee and subsequently the chairman, Board of Trustee of the party.
But Sheriff arrived late after Jonathan had concluded his address. In an attempt not to undermine protocols, Makarfi was denied the floor to speak, while the BoT chairman, Sen. Walid Jibril, of the party was given the floor when Sheriff coincidentally walked into the venue of the meeting.
At the end of the BoT chairman’s address, the party decided to go into a closed-door meeting, excusing the media but Sheriff protested, insisted that the media must stay to witness his address to the meeting as the national chairman of the party.
Reacting to Sheriff’s insistence to speak publicly, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his Ekiti State counterparts, Ayo Fayose, argued that if Sheriff must speak in the presence of the media, Makarfi must also be allowed the same privilege.
Jonathan had swiftly intervened, saying that the peace meeting would not recognize any national chairman from both factions as the objective of the meeting was different.
Surprisingly, Sheriff staged a walk out from the meeting but was prevailed upon by other party members who thought it wise to speak to him to reduce the tension. He was however ushered to a room where prominent party members led by Jonathan who spent nearly two hours trying to convince Sheriff to accept the arrangement in the meeting.
Adamantly, Sheriff stormed out along with members of his National Working Committee (NWC), insisting that since he remains the national chairman of the party and the most senior figure he must be so recognized. He added that no other person has the right to preside over a meeting of the party, particularly in sensitive times and circumstances of this nature.
While he commended the former for the leadership role he had played, he insisted that he cannot work with the former president’s recommendation.
“We have a programme, which is initiated by Dickson, anything that is outside that I will not be part of,” Sheriff had told journalists after walking out of the meeting.
“The party as at today has one national chairman, which is Ali Modu Sheriff. There is no PDP meeting that will take place under any arrangement that I will not make an opening remark as a national chairman’’, he said.
“I think that Governor Dickson made a proposal, and we have accepted it. Other people have a programme to bring agenda which is not part of the proposal. And as a national chairman of the party, what I told you people in my office is that I will not be party for anybody using me as a party to do another programme. I will not be.”
The meeting however went on without Sheriff at the end of which a committee with membership drawn from both camps raised to sort out the problems that had been identified and report back within two weeks.
Jonathan would head the committee but in his absence, former Vice President Namadi Sambo or former Senate President, David Mark would chair it.
The former president who had in his opening remarks called on all aggrieved members of the party to end the media war and stop the blame game, regretted the drama that played out earlier, assured members of the party that things would still turn out for good in favour of the party.
He said there is no doubt the PDP, despite its current woes, remains a leading light of the nation’s democracy and the party must not be allowed to sink, adding that there is the need to build a formidable force to achieve the goals and objectives of the founding fathers of the party.
The former President said: “There is no doubt that the PDP is a leading light in constitutional democracy and this is why we cannot allow the party to continue to drift. This meeting of today is therefore designed to stem the drift.
“I have to state clearly that today is not a day to blame ourselves. We have blamed ourselves enough in the media.Today is not a day to insult ourselves, we have also done enough of that in the media. Today is the day our great party men and women will come up with suggestions and solutions to our problems. We will surely overcome the current challenge. The PDP will definitely rise again.
“The meeting of today is noticeably unique and it is aimed at achieving two key objectives: To reassure our party members and all Nigerians that the PDP is united and still remains the largest party in Nigeria and one that has all it takes to win key elections, that without prejudice to the on going litigation over some issues, the party leaders are out to develop a mechanism towards achieving a lasting and enduring political settlement of our differences.
“Great and committed members of our great party, you will all agree with me that this house as presently constituted is too large to fine tune details of our reconciliation plans and for the intended final political settlement out of court. Permit me to therefore recommend that the meeting be conducted in two tiers viz:
“The larger body of stakeholders as we are now. This body will come up with suggestions on the way forward for resolving the differences that we currently face.
“Smaller committee of not more than 40 members will be constituted to fine tune the suggestions of the larger body, to finally resolve all the outstanding issues.
“In closing, I charge our great party leaders to make personal and general sacrifices to ensure the quick resolution of the problems in our party. The PDP is a symbol of democracy. If you believe in the PDP, there is no sacrifice too big for you to make.
“As politicians, with the zeal to lead our people, we must aspire to higher offices or identify the people we believe have leadership qualities and encourage them to aspire to those positions. But one thing is very clear: You cannot, as the polity is configured today, be elected into a higher office on the platform of a weak party.
“We must all, therefore, work to rebuild the PDP and strengthen the party in line with the vision of our founding fathers, and the mission to continue to provide for the good of the people of our great country, valuable leadership in a stable democracy rooted in the rule of law.
“We have to remind ourselves that the prolongation of the crisis in our party may have cost us so much in election fortunes, in recent time. The loss of Edo and Ondo gubernatorial elections is still fresh in our memory. It goes without saying that we cannot afford to have a repeat of that in the forthcoming elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states.
“It is high time we buried the hatchet, suppressed our ego and prepared to make sacrifices in the interest of our party and, indeed the country.
“Our ambitions therefore must come second; otherwise we will only be building castles on quick sand. We must realize that as they say, everybody is nobody without a platform. So, why destroy the platform?
“I urge our teeming members to remain steadfast and continue to believe in the PDP. As I said earlier, it is true that we suffered a setback in 2015, but the fact remains that the PDP is still the largest party in our dear country. There is no doubt that the PDP will emerge from this moment of trial to regain its position as the greatest party on our continent’’, he concluded.
Following the fall out of the Jonathan-led peace meeting and from all indications, the PDP would be heading yet again to a new drawing board to bring the warring factions together for talks, otherwise all efforts already put in place would have been futile.
Also, Sheriff’s walk-out of the Jonathan-led peace meeting and the refusal of Makarfi’s faction to respect the Port Harcourt Appeal ruling has raised questions on the loyalty of both factions to the PDP. It is believed in most quarters that the battle between the two factions is centred on 2019 as ego continues to cloud the judgment of both sides.
Sheriff and his supporters were believed to be overwhelmed by the large supporters of the Makarfi faction at the meeting. He however was counting on the recommendations of the Dickson-led committee which gives him an edge over Makarfi.
It was alleged that Jonathan had advised the two warring actors to resign their position and allow a neutral hand to manage the affairs of the party pending when a new convention is held and new executives elected.
But this didn’t work out as both Sheriff and Makarfi are bent at holding onto their positions of no retreat, no surrender for whatever reason even at the expense of the party.
No one saw this coming; not even those who proposed making Sheriff the interim national chairman of the PDP when the position was zoned to the North-east, had envisaged what would become of the decision they were to make. Today, the PDP has not only been enmeshed with lingering leadership tussle but also struggling to survive the possibility of being totally decimated.
The former Borno State governor had made consultation with stakeholders of the party. He had visited former Head of States, Ibrahim Babangida and even Jonathan as part of his reconciliation moves. He had to call on party faithfuls to see reasons with his grievances and asked all to put the past behind to work for a united PDP.
Sheriff may be a difficult nut to crack but there is limit to his arrogance as he has only limited time to run the same office under contention analysts opine. He may not have the backing of all the governors, senators and key members of the party, but with him is the staff of office and a crown of a brand and a household name like the PDP.
However last week’s setback has put the extent of the crisis in context. The PDP had in the last one year been enmeshed in confusion; embedded with litany of litigations arising from various controversial court rulings from courts of coordinate jurisdiction, exposing the party to what many had described as the last test of its strength and wit to survive the next election circle.
What this implies is that the PDP might be heading to the final days of its existence if the self-braggadocio style of politics that have beclouded the judgment of Sheriff and Makarfi is not do way with before the final judgment of the Supreme Court is given. It is clear that some prominent members of the party are already losing confidence in the hope that the party might still be resuscitated through efforts being put in place by its founding fathers in recent times.