PDP: Resolving The Unending Crisis

● Party leaders opt for reconciliation, set up committee as Wike smiles home

By PHC Telegraph

 

As the dust generated by Thursday’s NEC meeting clears and most Nigerians try to make obvious sense of the PDP’s stance on number of internal issues that are threatening the basis of its unity, there are strong indications that a committee to reconcile serious differences between warring factions has been set up by the National Executive Committee, NEC.

This is part of the resolution reached when party leaders from across the country met in the federal capital, Abuja, to deliberate on how to plot a new direction for a party that is neck-deep in crisis.

Prior to the last NEC meeting, there were speculations that party members accused of engaging in anti-party activities inimical to the progress of the major opposition party would receive serious sanctions.

However, NEC agreed on Thursday to opt for the  reconciliation  of disagreeing PDP members instead of welding the big stick.

Accordingly,  it resolved to put up a conflict resolution committee that would reconcile Atiku, Wike and others on the road to 2027.

The chairman of the committee expected to push the bid for reconciliation come on stream any moment from now has not been officially named by the PDP.

But opinions in some quarters of the political party suggest that a former Senate President and one-time Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bola Saraki may lead the ‘let’s-stay- together’ team.

It was perhaps proof of the fact that party tacticians prefer, atleast for now, to pursue an agenda that may be more inclusive and less vindictive in their search for peace, unity and stability.

Across the country, particularly inside the PDP, there were sighs, huge sighs, but it was still not clear as at the time of this report if the resolve by the party to invest confidence in the peace process amounted to sighs of relief.

Yet, it was a demonstration of the desire of the party to stand together; evidence that there might still be light in the tunnel; as the party gradually begins to rebuild internal democracy and those ties among leaders that guaranteed great conquests in the past.

After two great electoral losses in 2015 and 2023 which has pushed the PDP deeper into opposition, some say that there appears to be what looks like a broad consensus between wings of the party dominated by hawks and doves that would encourage tolerance and forgiveness among members.

Not Yet Atiku’s PDP: 

 

A picture that is obviously emerging from the last PDP NEC meeting is that which somehow depicts the fact that Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria who flew the flag in the last presidential election, may not have the clout that many think he has to dominate the party structure completely.

His physical presence at the meeting and calls by his supporters prior to the meeting for the suspension or expulsion of alleged renegades led by the current Minister of the FCT  did not deter leaders of the party from charting a middle course.

“It is evidence”, one analyst said in Port Harcourt that “a proxy war against Atiku’s bid to run again in 2027 may have started already.

“Those who may be supporting a union in which Wike would possibly have a pride of place are doing so because he (Wike) and his supporters are the ones who can stop Atiku from usurping the party.”

“They are a strong counter force, deeply embedded within the PDP”, another analyst who also chose to speak anonymously told the Telegraph, “the PDP may not be the ‘party of Atiku’ at this time as many think. A strong contest for power in 2027 is indeed going on.”

 

How Wike Survived The Anti-Wike Movement:

 

Many Nigerians as the countdown began had speculated that calamity would lie in the path of the former governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike, who led the G5 that fought the presidential candidate of the PDP to a standstill.

A report allegedly cataloguing the so many sins of  the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory had been put together by some elements within the opposition party.

Wike, defiant as ever, dared anyone within the leadership of the PDP to discipline him, insisting at different fora where he had the chance to speak that there is nothing that he has done to warrant such a punishment.

Wike had shunned several party meetings, but not the NEC meeting called on the 18th of April, 2024.

It was “a make or mar meeting”, a source close to the Minister revealed and “Wike seized a unique opportunity to make an unexpected appearance when Umar Iliya Damagum, acting national chairman of the party and others in significant positions believed to be close to him were under pressure to resign from their seats.”

The arrival of the Rivers politician at the Wadatta Plaza, venue of the meeting caused such a big stir amongst the teeming crowd of party supporters that was gathered outside the complex, the Telegraph has learnt.

The sudden resignation of the Oyo State Governor from the G5 movement a few days to the meeting had created the impression that the roof which all along offered succour and protection to members of the group was about to cave in.

Within the APC which has its eyes on events within the PDP, it was equally time to see if its partnership with Nyesom Wike is indeed worth the while.

President Bola Tinubu had been under pressure to rein in his Minister even as the propaganda market sold claims of corrupt acts levied against the former governor.

Tinubu who had intervened in Rivers State, elsewhere too, in an effort to lay very strong foundations for peace and the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy refused to listen.

When the chips were stacked line by line, especially in line with what is perceived as the reality on ground, the party leadership refrained from adopting a carefully woven script which could have ignited a political explosion in its midst.

Instead of attracting any serious rebuke as many opponents of his political style would have wanted, Wike would be waiting in the wings in Abuja for members of the party’s reconciliation team that has been set up by the party to fix his disagreement with Atiku Abubakar and other leaders who have a stake in the project called PDP.

 

Fight Of The Deep Pockets:

Money has always been a critical factor in the PDP and the way politics is played in the nation.

Those who have excess access to money in naira, dollars and pounds have enormous control within the party. They are seen as influencial, formidable and powerful when it comes to the mobilization of opinion and support of interests.

Thursday, when the PDP gathered, there was no doubt that what was going on; what has been going on for a while; is the fight of the deep pockets.

There was a time when the political arsenal of the ex-customs officer from Adamawa driven by his wealth could cause a shiver to run down the spines of many in the PDP.

Now Atiku backed by hordes of supporters have Wike who has been a major financier of the PDP over the years to contend with.

Wike who could ignore just about anything and not an attempt by anyone to play down his control of a political structure in the PDP has managed to keep Atiku at bay.

Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike, the biggest gladiators in the PDP, would have to live to fight another day, looking at the way the NEC meeting ended on Thursday.

It is evident that Atiku and his supporters left the Wadatta Plaza, venue of the PDP meeting, without throwing out the Rivers born politician who robbed the Turaki of his opportunity to be Nigeria’s President after Muhammadu Buhari.

Crushed perhaps, is the belief that the dollars and pounds that are coming out of the pocket of the Adamawa politician would be sufficient to overrun the resilience of the man from Nigeria’s South South who may have too much money.

Wike and his backers who are watching Atiku’s every move apparently got the PDP Governors to support the retention of Umar Damagum, even if for the time being, as the National Chairman of the party.

On the surface, this may have represented a setback for Atiku, but insiders seem to think that the former presidential candidate has a little more time to perfect his next move.

Wike equally got off the hook, getting as far as possible out of the reach of the clutches of those within the PDP who had plotted as the meeting approached to humiliate him.

This development must shock persons who are wondering in their quiet corners if Wike is a cat with nine lives. 

In Rivers State where Wike hails from; where Governor Siminalayi Fubara’ star is gradually rising; what Rivers people really wanted from the meeting in Abuja was not lost.

Fubara had insisted prior to the meeting that the list of the new caretaker committee members cannot be tampered with by any means.

The decision by the party to maintain the status quo is being interpreted to mean a major victory for Fubara and his supporters who cried foul as soon as the release of the said list was announced.

Those who were not originally part of the party’s executive in Rivers State, but whose names made it to the list which is in the public domain may have to watch events from the sidelines.