Facts emerged in Abuja on Saturday on why the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party changed its initial plan to hold staggered presidential primaries.
The party‘s presidential primaries, which were scheduled for the six geo-political zones, were billed to hold on January 11, 12 and 13, 2011, and end with the ratification of the national convention on January 15 in Abuja.
However, our correspondent gathered that the decision was changed during high-level discussions involving the decision-making organs of the party in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The meetings did away with the idea of a staggered primaries and agreed that the convention should now hold in Abuja on January 9, 2011.
The national caucus of the party and its board of trustees were two of the organs that met in Abuja.
A member of the National Working Committee, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Saturday evening, said there were security reports that showed that some governors who had pledged support for President Goodluck Jonathan were not “sincere”.
“The reports accused some of the PDP governors of playing politics with their support for President Jonathan, saying it could be difficult to count on their support during the staggered primary elections in the six geo-political zones,” the NWC member said.
Although nearly all the PDP governors are believed to have assured Jonathan of their support, a few of them, from the North, are under pressure to support the emergence of a presidential candidate from the region.
SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the party also took the decision to checkmate any plan by aspirants to use money to “buy delegates”. The party, the source said, felt that a one-day convention would minimise the use of money to influence the delegates.
”This was why we agreed to the return of the norm within the PDP, which is a single-day convention to be held in Abuja on January 9, 2011,” the source added.
Meanwhile, less than two months to the 2011 elections, SUNDAY PUNCH findings have revealed that the analysts say the PDP may lose six out of its 27 states to opposition parties.
The states where the party may lose control to other political parties, due to internal crises, are Enugu, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Kogi and Delta. In Anambra and Edo states where the PDP is very popular, the state chapters are also crisis prone.
Investigations by our correspondents on Friday showed that the PDP chapters in the six states are torn by internal crises, court cases, factionalisation and lack of internal cohesion.
For instance, in many of the states, there are already parallel executive committees, with each leadership having its sets of aspirants –– a development that analysts say opposition parties may fully exploit in the 2011 elections.
In Anambra State the secretariats of the two factions have remained closed despite the increasing tempo of political activities in the state in the countdown to the general election.
While the Emma Nweke-led faction was constituted by the Zonal Working Committee under the directive of the National Working Committee, the Benji Udeozor-led faction is holding tight to a court judgment, which did not only recognise it, but also asked the NWC to deal with it.
Nweke, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said all his group was just waiting for was for the National Executive Committee to issue guidelines for it to start the process of nominating candidates.
Udeozor, who was in Abuja when our correspondent called him, said his group was waiting for a pronouncement by the NWC on the recognition accorded his executive committee by the court and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In the meantime, the party has been losing its prominent members to the All Progressive Grand Alliance.
In Oyo State, there are currently two factions of the party. One of them is led by Chief Dejo Afolabi, while the other, known as the Implementation Committee, is led by Alhaji Yunus Akintunde.
The Implementation Committee was reportedly established as a fallout of the Ike Nwachukwu-led committee report on the crisis in the state chapter of the party.
The Afolabi-led group seems to be in control of the party machinery, as it enjoys the support of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.
The group operates from the party state secretariat in Mokola, while the Akintunde group has opened a parallel secretariat off the Old Ife Road in the state capital.
The Akintunde group enjoys the support of the Senate Leader, Mr. Teslim Folarin; former Governor Rashidi Ladoja; Senator Lekan Balogun; former Minister, Wole Oyelese; the Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Ayo Adeseun; and another member of the House from the state, Mr. Kamil Akinlabi.
All efforts aimed at reconciling the factions, especially as the 2011 elections draw nearer, have not yielded any positive result, as members of each faction stuck to their guns.
In Plateau State, the crisis in the party appeared to be getting worse, as both sides are unrelenting in their quest to control the party machinery.
Efforts to reconcile the two groups, including a power- sharing agreement, SUNDAY PUNCH learnt, had failed.
A faction loyal to Governor Jonah Jang, and basking in the euphoria of a recent Appeal Court judgment which affirmed its leadership of the party in the state, is making all efforts to solidify its hold.
However, the opposition members in the party are pushing for a congress, alleging that INEC did not recognise the current executive.
INEC had, in one of its letters with regard to the state, said it was waiting for the verdict of the court in respect of the appeal filed by the NWC and the caretaker committee against the judgment of a high court, which invalidated the sacking of the Prof. Dakum Shown-led executive and the setting up of the Abu King Shulluwa-led caretaker committee by the NWC.
SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that it was during the crisis that Shown was forced to resign, while the state government appointed Mr. Haruna Dabin as the new chairman.
The state secretary, Mr. Daniel Dakim, told our correspondent that the party had communicated the verdict of the court to both INEC and headquarters of the party.
But a member of the opposition and former Minister of State, Information and Communications, Alhaji Dasuki Nakande, and the Publicity Secretary of the caretaker committee, Mr. Sylvanus Namang, said the other faction misinterpreted the court verdict.
From Enugu, a factional chairman of the party, Mr. Reuben Ochi, told our correspondent on Friday that the way to resolve the crisis in the state was to conduct a fresh congress in line with the decision of the NWC.
Besides, he alleged, Governor Sullivan Chime and his supporters, including the chairman of the other faction, Mr. Vita Abba, might have concluded plans to pursue their aspirations on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria.
The younger brother to the PDP national chairman, Chief Nnia Nwodo, confirmed this, saying, Chime and his group did not have the structure of the party in the state.
But when our correspondent approached Abba, he said, “The case is in court; it won‘t be proper to pass any comment. I want to refrain from making any comment until the matter is resolved by the appeal court.”
Investigations by our correspondent in Ogun State showed that the party was factionalised between the group headed by the Minister for Commerce, Chief Jibril Martins Kuye and Governor Gbenga Daniel.
The appointment of Daniel as the South West coordinator of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign and the close rapport between the governor and the Presidency, had been a source of concern to the aggrieved members of the opposition group within the PDP.
However, PDP Director of Publicity in the state, Mr. Deji Kalejaiye, who spoke to our correspondent in Abeokuta, denied that the party was divided.
In Edo State, Chief Sunny Uyigue leads a faction, while Chief Dan Orbih leads another. Efforts made to reconcile the warring factions by a former governor of the state and a PDP stalwart, Dr. Sam Ogbemudia, failed when the feuding groups launched fresh battles in Edo South and Edo North.
In Edo North, a faction had proclaimed Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mike Ogiadhome, as its leader, which drew the ire of a group loyal to a former Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe (retd).
Meanwhile, the PDP National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, has declared that these internal wrangling would not affect the fortune of the party in the 2011 poll.
Nwodo who spoke through is his Special Adviser, Mr. Ike Abonyi, said the party would make further inroads in next year’s election.
SOURCE:http://www.punchng.com/
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