Connect with us

Politics

ANALYSIS: 7 things we learnt from PDP Convention

Published

on

7 things we learnt from PDP Convention

Last Saturday was historic for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party. On that day, the party held its second convention since 2015 general elections when it lost to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The first convention of the party held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and was non-elective as members gathered to appoint an interim leadership following the expected resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, who led it to a disastrous election, the first since 1999.

The second convention last Saturday at Eagle’s Square Abuja, was elective. Delegates from all state wings of the party converged to elect a new leadership for the party. The party had gone through a period of stress and seeming loss of relevance since 2015. This was occasioned by a leadership tussle that almost ruined it.

Out of power, the PDP became factionalized between the Ahmed Makarfi faction and the Ali Modu-Sheriff faction. However, a Supreme Court verdict which upheld supremacy of the convention of the party in electing its leadership brought an end to Modu-Sheriff’s romance with the PDP and opened the door that led to last Saturday.

PDP had also zoned its chairmanship to the south. The Southwest laid a claim to it. But the understanding that the south comprised of Southwest, South-south and southeast, opened a new frontier for bargain and aspirants from the south-south called the bluff of the southwest in laying claims to the position.

For this reason, Uche Secondus and Raymond Dokpesi, both from the South-south zone, entered the race and joined southwest buffs like Olabode George, Tunde Adeniran, Gbenga Daniel, Taoheed Adedoja and Jimi Agbaje in the contest. All the aspirants put in their best in seeking support for the top office. However, on the eve of the convention, all aspirants from the southwest stepped down and threw their weight behind Adeniran, a university professor and one-time Minister of Education. He went into the election alongside Dokpesi and Secondus. He however pulled out midway into votes counting citing the existence of a ‘unity list’, which to him meant that outcome of the election had been pre-determined.

Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Ifeanyi Okowa, who is also Delta State Governor, dismissed the claim and disclosed that Adeniran’s polling agents remained part of the counting and authentication process till the Prof’s change of heart. At the end of counting however, Dokpesi had 66 votes while Adeniran got some 231 votes. Secondus got some 2000 votes to become PDP’s National Chairman. Prof. Adedoja was left without a vote.

Here are 7 things we learnt from the PDP convention.

1, Rage of the new breed

Battle for the soul of PDP had raged between those seen as new breed and the old brigade which consists of those seen to have wielded power in the party since its formation in 1998. Represented by Prof. Jerry Gana, the old brigade had maintained a hold on the party to the annoyance of the new breed, which consists mainly of governors of the party from 2011 till date. The latter category had battled to wrest power from the old brigade over the years which struggle contributed to the electoral misfortune of the party in 2015.

The old brigade was said to be responsible for the presidential campaign of the party in 2015 even when the new breed wanted younger elements to run things. The new breed, which consists of incumbent governors of the party and the likes of Femi Fani-Kayode, had expected the old brigade to play the role of elders and offer advice. However, the refusal by the old brigade to take a backseat, forced a fight by the new breed which led to the election of Secondus against the wish of the old brigade which wanted Adeniran.

2, Convention mere academic exercise

Outcome of the election showed a pre-determined plot given the emergence of a list, tagged ‘Unity List’, which surfaced midway into the convention. Like Adeniran, some people also condemned the list. But as it is, the list is an old wine in a new bottle. Lists such as that, always surface at conventions. They were part of past conventions of PDP and indeed, other political parties and even trade unions and professional bodies. To that extent, it is a regular. However, it was thought that since the PDP wanted to start anew, it ought to have done away with such list and allowed delegates vote their wish. Therefore, to the extent that final outcome of voting conformed to details of the list, the election was a mere academic exercise.

3, Disturbing feeling that voting S-West would be compensation for failure

The strong showing of Secondus, a later entrant into the race, was a statement by the south-south as far as the future of the party was concerned. As it is, southeast and south-south are the two major strongholds of the party. They have remained so since 2015 with Gombe and Taraba coming in from the northeast. Southwest boasts of Ekiti as the only PDP state. Therefore, the future of PDP rests more on the shoulder of southeast and south-south. That made the quest by South-west to control the party an argument which southeast and south-south delegates refused to fathom. Statistics from the 2015 general election showed that PDP lost massively in the southwest during the presidential election and many delegates argued that voting in the zone into the chairmanship of the party would be compensation for failure.

4, PDP now a seeming regional giant

With the National Chairmanship of the party domiciled in the south-south, PDP is now more firmly rooted in the zone. It also means that the zone will form the bulwark of opposition to government using also the new status to push for developments for the region. The situation poses serious threat to the APC-led Federal government. First, south-south is the economic base of Nigeria as home to the country’s main economic produce.

The southeast shares the same profile. With the region also serving as the home of opposition, it raises issues for a federal government which had not hidden its marginalization against the region in terms of appointive representation at the centre, capital projects allocation from the federal budgets and other developments. The region is also home of militancy which had cost the country quite some good fortune in lost revenues from vandalized oil installations and cut in oil production. It could be too much headache for government having to contend with militancy in the region and political opposition.

5, A media goon takes to the trenches

For the first time in contemporary Nigeria, a thoroughbred journalist was elected, by delegates, as National Publicity Secretary of PDP. That was a huge departure from the past. It also showed readiness of the party to professionalise its information dissemination processes and elevate public communication of a political party away from the low points it seems to have dropped in the hands of the APC.

6, Courage is learning to confront adversities

With the conclusion of the convention, PDP showed courage in the face of adversity. With many of its members lost to the ruling APC, the PDP still managed to sail with the convention. In doing so, the party displayed deep courage and willingness to go past the hurdles in resolving its problems and facing thfuture. That is, however, different of the ruling party which since 2015 has shied away from a National Convention and officially inaugurating its Board of Trustees. Here, PDP showed that it had the experience to manage complex internal party situations.

7, Atiku’s ‘home coming’ may lead the way for other returnees

The prominent role played by returnee, Atiku Abubakar, at the convention –addressing the convention, is an indication that the party is willing to reconcile with all its members, especially those who left it in a fit of rage in the weeks preceding the 2015 general election.

That Atiku had the podium to address the same friends and associates he had dumped earlier, indicates that the party’s doors are open to the likes of Rabiu Kwankwaso, Rotimi Amaechi, Murtala Nyarko and all other members of the n-PDP, which fused into the APC. If the signal is accepted and all pot holes in their membership are filled, that would be a big blow to the APC and may also cause its balkanization.

By Femi Qudus…

 

Ripples Nigeria…without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now