2022: PDP's year of hide and seek

LEON USIGBE reflects on the year 2022 as it relates to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), suggesting that Governor Nyesom Wike's assault was his defining moment.

The condition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not exactly like the German Rohm Putsch but there are daggers drawn. As the "Night of the Long Knives", the purge of Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934 led to political and extrajudicial executions ordered by Chancellor Adolf Hitler in his attempt to consolidate his power, the only victim of the PDP in the future could be his dream to return to power.

With less than two months to go before the presidential election, the situation of the main opposition remains fluid. This has been so even before the presidential primary and its aftermath when a war of attrition erupted over the choice of the running mate of the winner of his presidential ticket, the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar. But before the national convention chose its standard bearer, the party had found itself at the limit of the practicability of its entrenched principle of rotation of power. The PDP Constitution, Article 7(2)(c), states: "Under the principle of fairness, justice and equity, the party shall adhere to the party's rotation and zoning policy and public executive offices."

However, there has been controversy over whether the principle would apply to the 2023 general election based on the argument by northern elements of the party that the last Nigerian PDP chairman was a southerner. This glosses over the fact that the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, is a northerner and will hold the post for eight years.

The argument made by those who wanted the ticket opened was twofold. First, Buhari's tenure can only count in the calculations of his party's presidential race, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Second, it is imperative that the PDP wins the elections before sharing the positions. But there was a palpable tension from the start.

Earlier this year, it was evident that the main opposition party was linked to a landmine that could explode at any moment. It mainly stemmed from the report of the 2019 Election Review Committee headed by Governor Muhammed Bala of Bauchi State. Established in 2020, the report it delivered noted that “the demands of the moment demanded that nothing be compromised in choosing the leader with the attributes to lift the country out of the current quagmire. Therefore, we believe that every Nigerian from all parts of the country should be given the opportunity to choose the best candidate through a credible primary election, in order to institutionalize a merit-based leadership recruitment process for the country. . »

But as the election season for the fiscal year 2023 shifted into high gear, the PDP became deliberately ambiguous on the principle of rotation of power and zoning. This encouraged 14 people from across the country, including Atiku, who was the party's losing standard bearer in 2019; Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Governor Mohammed whose committee recommended launching the party's presidential ticket open to all sections of the country, to get nomination forms for the presidential ticket.

Others, who paid the N40 million fee to obtain the nomination forms, are former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi; former Senate President Bukola Saraki; Ovation magazine editor Dele Momodu; former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose; Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike; investment banker and economist, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen; a former president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa; Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze; former Senate President Pius Anyim and the only woman in the group exempt from paying the nomination fee, Oliver Diana.

With Iyorchia Ayu, a northerner already national president, many southern presidential candidates who have anchored their enthusiasm in the hope that 2023 will be the turn of the region, have openly criticized the presence of their northern counterparts in the race.

Now faced with a dilemma, the party set up a zoning committee headed by Governor Sam Ortom of Benue State, but the committee was itself mired in controversy as it could not reach a final position on the zoning of the presidential ticket despite the advice of the committee chairman. better push to yield it to the south. Then, it appeared that the committee resolved that: “Zoning, as in our party constitution, is affirmed. Despite (1) above, the ticket is open, this time due to time urgency. »

However, Ortom disputed this and did not appear on the day the committee submitted the report to the PDP National Working Committee (NWC). There followed long meetings of the various party organs, culminating in the adoption by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP of the position...