The Big PDP Showdown

But like a bad product, Egwu is not ready to identify with Obasanjo publicly, even though he craves his support. During Egwu’s visit to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the strongman of Ibadan politics, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, pointedly told Egwu that the South-West delegates to the convention are solidly with him (Egwu) because he is a candidate of Baba (Obasanjo). But almost immediately, Egwu rebuked Adedibu, saying he was not sure he was Baba’s candidate. This is the burden which Egwu has had to carry. While he cannot denounce Obasanjo publicly, the growing criticism of the former Nigerian leader means Egwu could lose votes if he is seen to be Obasanjo’s candidate.

This magazine reliably gathered that part of the plot of the Obasanjo camp to outsmart IBB and other tendencies in the party saw them shutting the door against suspected ‘‘enemies’’ and radical elements within the party ahead of meetings where plans to instal Egwu were perfected. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, were among victims of this plot. National Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali’s decision to keep Bankole and Kingibe away from the caucus meeting has further widened cracks in PDP. Ali’s apologies notwithstanding, members of the House of Representatives are still furious at the humiliation of their leader. The legislators, this magazine learnt, have vowed to ensure that candidates suspected to enjoy Obasanjo’s support would not carry the day.

Indeed, the so-called Group of 21, led by former Senate president, Ken Nnamani, has been making its voice heard. The prominent leaders of PDP in the group include former speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, Chief Tony Anenih, former Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees; and other leaders from the North, including Hon. Farouk Lawan, a key member of the Integrity Group in the House of Representatives.

Ali’s hostility towards Kingibe and Co. followed the G-21’s proposed amendment of the party’s constitution, to the effect that the clause introduced into the party’s constitution in 2006 be expunged.

The amendment sought through a letter dated 16 January 2008 was intended to achieve the purpose of getting the Obasanjo group to comply with provisions of the constitution of the party. The provision, among others, stipulates that proposal for amendment of the constitution could only be ratified by the convention and must be received 21 days before the exercise leading to the convention. The postponement of the convention twice last year, according to political pundits, was a ploy to delay the process of handover until an auspicious time when the pro-Obasanjo group would be able to regain its grip on the party.

In politics there is no permanent friend or enemy, but permanent interest. This captures the relationship between Obasanjo and Anenih. For the eight years of Obasanjo’s presidency, analysts reckon that the duo were united by one interest: hijack of the PDP from its founders. With the pioneer members schemed out, Obasanjo installed Anenih as BOT chairman and Ahmadu Ali as National chairman. With those two men holding key posts, Obasanjo had the PDP under his thumb.

But the “marriage” went sour when Obasanjo, shortly after leaving office last year, replaced Anenih as BOT Chairman. Obasanjo claimed to have relied on the amended PDP Constitution which stipulates that only ex-presidents or former national chairmen can be the party’s BOT chairman. But Anenih believed his sack was done in bad faith. Since then, the two erstwhile friends have become sworn enemies.

For Anenih, the 8 March National Convention of the PDP holding at the Eagle Square, Abuja is an opportunity to give Obasanjo a bloody nose. The convention is also expected to produce a new National Working Committee of the party. At press time, it could be said that the party has been divided into Obasanjo and Anenih camps.

The arrowheads of the Obasanjo faction are: Senate President David Mark, Dr. Sam Egwu, Dr. Andy Uba, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, Chief Bode George, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, Senator Smart Adeyemi and the PDP governors from the South-West. The group is sponsoring Egwu, for the national chairmanship position, while Brigadier-General Tunde Ogbeha (retd.), a former senator from Kogi State, is jostling to be National Secretary.

The choice of these men, according to the magazine’s checks, is predicated on the belief that with the duo as chairman and secretary, Obasanjo, who would remain the BOT chairman can realise his ambition of being the life leader of party. This is against the background that both Egwu and Ogbeha are die-hard loyalists of the ex-president. In fact, Egwu and Ogbeha openly canvassed for the third term project of Obasanjo.

Aside their loyalty, TheNEWS learnt that Mark, Ogbeha’s bosom friend, lobbied the Obasanjo faction to support the former senator even though the North Central caucus of the party, where the secretaryship is zoned, prefers either Chief Bode Ojumu or Chief John Dara. Ojumu is a former deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP. He is, however, not the candidate of his state governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki. Like Ojumu, Dara who also hails from Kwara State does not enjoy the backing of Saraki. But the former PDP governorship aspirant has General T.Y. Danjuma and Professor Jerry Gana as strong backers.

Obasanjo has toured the six geo-political zones drumming up support for his anointed candidates ahead of the convention. In Edo and Delta states, Obasanjo told his listeners at the PDP Stakeholders Forum that the party would win more states in the next general election if Egwu is elected Chairman. But there was indication that all was not well with Obasanjo’s visit. Anenih, members of the Edo House of Assembly and their counterparts in the House of Representatives shunned Obasanjo. Only Senator Ehigie Uzamre was at the parley; the other two, who are said to be Anenih’s ‘boys’ stayed away.

But Obasanjo dismissed the absence of Anenih and his loyalists with a wave of the hand. “I was received at the Benin Airport by the governors of Edo and Delta states, General Samuel Ogbemudia and Chief Edwin Clark and this to me shows that all is well with my visit,” Obasanjo told newsmen. But Obasanjo’s open endorsement of Egwu has incurred the wrath of Hon. Lawan. He wondered why a BOT chairman who is supposed to be neutral was partisan. “I believe it is improper for the Chairman of the Board of Trustees to be seen openly campaigning for a particular candidate.The BOT is supposed to be the conscience of the party and members of the board are supposed to be non-partisan as far as indicating interest in a particular candidate is concerned,’’said Lawan.

Before Obasanjo’s visit to Benin, his faction had manipulated proceedings at the party’s 43rd NEC meeting held last month in Abuja to favour it. Ken Nnamani had drawn the attention of NEC to the group’s memo to the party leadership demanding for a review of all the amendments made in the party’s constitution in 2006. The aim of the amendment canvassed by the group was to, among other things, delete aspects that make ex-PDP presidents automatic BOT chairman and the clause that increased the tenure of all elected party officials from two to four years. Nnamani said the amendments in 2006 were self-serving, as they enabled Obasanjo to, as soon as he left office, emerge the BOT Chairman in the most bizarre manner.

Ali who presided over the NEC meeting told Nnamani that his group’s request was belated. He said the constitution of the party required that such request be made at least two months to the date of the convention. Ali, who is the Nigerian High Commissioner-designate to South Africa, said the memo was sent to the party on 16 January, 2008 while it got to him on 22 January, noting that the national convention had been fixed for 8 March. According to Ali, if the request is entertained, the convention will be shifted to 28 March, a development he said was now impossible. He advised Nnamani and his group to wait for another convention to push their case. Soon after the meeting, the former National Working Committee, NWC, of the party named Ali as chairman of the convention. To give some credibility to the convention, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, former minister of Finance, was named Chairman of a 39-man Convention Planning Committee.

But Nnamani was not fooled. He said such appointment, going by the existing party constitution, should have been made by the NEC or ratified by it. However, he lamented that his party would not hold a NEC meeting before the convention. “The constitution of the party does not say the President shall appoint members of the convention organising committee. It is the NEC of the party that is vested with such a responsibility. Inasmuch as Ciroma’s name rekindles hope to people like me, it has to go to the NEC for ratification,” Nnamani argued.

Nnamani also believed it was Ali’s calculated plot to stop the amendments that motivated him to fast-track the date for the convention. He, however, said his group had made its presence felt to compel the PDP to fix the convention date, .

“We submitted a letter to the Secretary of the party. It was stamped and received 22 January. During the NEC meeting of 28 January, I raised the question as to what had happened to our letter. The reply I got was that we did not meet the two months requirement. On receiving the letter, the leadership of the party rushed to fix the date for the convention. Since they didn’t fix the date before the receipt of our letter, they should have considered our letter,” reasoned Nnamani.

The G-21 still insists on due process being followed in the handling of party affairs. In a letter addressed to President Umar Yar’Adua, the group urged him to act quickly to save the party from imminent collapse. The letter which was entitled: ‘The Problem of Peoples Democratic Party: A recipe For Its Survival’ was signed by Nnamani, Masari and Alani Bankole, who is the father of the current speaker of the House of Representatives. The letter read in part: “A critical analysis of the situation would put the bulk of the blame on unfortunate state of affairs on the leadership of both the party and government at different levels, all in an effort to fulfil a personal interest by tinkering with the party and the country’s constitution. Thus, our party constitution has undergone two amendments in year 2002 and 2006. Between 1998 and 2006, our party has had five national chairmen, majority of whom were imposed on the party, especially the outgoing National Chairman, Ahmadu Ali.”

While regretting that Ali and Obasanjo had sent PDP founders to political Siberia, the group said the party has become a laughing stock. “Today, ordinary Nigerians look at PDP as an undemocratic party. In fact, a Hausa musician, Haruna Ningi, sang a song for PDP called Shegyigaruwa Mai Kasha Yayanta PDP, meaning PDP is a wicked mother that murders her own children,” they declared. Ali, meanwhile, has threatened to expel members of the group if they seek redress in court. Speaking in Abuja during the inauguration of the Ciroma-led committee, Ali assured that the party had put machinery in motion to ensure a successful convention. Ciroma thanked the party for considering him worthy of leading the committee and promised to be above board.

The President is yet to reply the G-21. However, Nnamani and his group have a fall back position. They were reported to have aligned with the Anenih/IBB faction of the PDP. Rising from a meeting in Abuja last week, the group resolved not to support candidates that are tied to the apron strings of Obasanjo.

Already, there are indications that G-21 has settled for Anyim Pius Anyim for the post of National Chairman. Nnamani and Masari, this magazine learnt, have been saddled with the responsibility of canvassing support for Anyim among both past and present lawmakers. The thinking of the IBB/Anenih camp is that having earned the respect of Nigerians, especially for opposing third term, the duo can win ‘souls’ for the Anyim project in the hallowed chambers more than anyone else.

The G-21 is not the only group that has joined the Anyim train. Some past governors who felt Obasanjo used and dumped them are working hard to stop Egwu from realising his dream. They include Chief James Ibori, former Delta State governor, and his Rivers State counterpart, Dr. Peter Odili. Others are former Benue State governor, Senator George Akume, former Niger State governor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure, former governor of Taraba State, Reverend Jolly Nyame and Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State. These ex-governors are said to be lobbying delegates to the convention to vote for Anyim. Aside this, another major boost for Anyim’s ambition is his popularity among the anti-Obasanjo elements in the North. They believe that of all the aspirants, only Anyim can be his own man if elected National Chairman. They may be right. Anyim as Senate president actually checked the excesses of Obasanjo.

Besides, the returnee members of the party are more than determined to pay Obasanjo in his own coin. Members of this group, who are already insisting on due process in the course of picking a new chairman for the party, are aligning with some of the former governors who do not want Obasanjo to get a political position, or be allowed to dictate who controls affairs of the party.

It was, therefore, not surprising to observers that prominent northern politicians like Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’Abba and Chief Godwin Daboh, and other sworn enemies of Obasanjo have been linked with Anyim. Outside Anyim, the Anenih/IBB faction has thrown its weight behind Kawu Baraje, a retired permanent secretary in the Kwara State Civil Service.

Though a greenhorn in politics, Baraje has the backing of Governor Bukola Saraki. His opponents, however, say based on Article 17 (G) of PDP Constitution, he is not eligible to vie for the office since he has not been a PDP member for up to two years. In case Baraje is disqualified based on this constitutional provision, the faction has an alternative in John Dara, former PDP governorship aspirant in Kwara State.

The question on the lips of Nigerians is which camp will triumph on 8 March? The consensus among analysts is that President Yar’ Adua holds the ace. Whoever he supports, they aver, would carry the day.