2015: ACN control of Southwest is setback for PDP, says secret memo Barely two years after the loss of the Southwest, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)is still in dilemma on how to wrest power from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Some PDP leaders have told Governor Ibrahim Shema’s peace panel that the control of the Southwest by the ACN has dampened the morale of members of the party. They said to regain any state in 2014 or 2015, PDP members in the zone need heavy patronage from the Federal Government. But, in one of the secret memos to the peace panel, the party chiefs claimed that there appears to be no hope for PDP because of the crisis in Ogun State which led to the removal of three members of the National Working Committee. The sacked members are ex-National Secretary Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; ex-National Vice-Chairman (Southwest),Segun Oni and a former National Auditor, Chief Bode Mustapha. The panel had been looking into the problems facing PDP in the Southwest and how to dislodge the ACN. But some of the memos said regaining the Southwest is herculean. The memo reads in part:” Today, the threats of the opposition in making dangerous incursions into the PDP in the zone are real, as a result of several factors, including the subject under reference which has brought about great disenchantment among PDP members in the zone. “Quite naturally, the loss of PDP governments in the last elections to the Action Congress of Nigeria in five out of the six states in the Southwest zone dampened the morale of members of our party in the zone. “I must also state that the losses suffered by our party could be ascribed largely to internal struggles for political offices and positions, particularly the feverish struggle by the governorship aspirants which split PDP down the line. “Whoever has bothered to study the pattern of reaction of the electorate in the South-west would agree that the zone is inhabited by independent-minded people, whose reactions to political issues are determined by several factors, including the high level of education and political sophistry, as well as their reactions to matters pertaining to their political leaders and environment.” They claimed that the recent removal of three NWC members is a setback for the anti-ACN project. The memo added: “ It is to be noted that the leadership of the PDP in the Southwest came on the scene with a very strong determination to evolve a drastic change, inspiring new political aims and aspirations, and a change that would earn our Party the control of the Governments of the Southwest states from 2014, when governorship elections are scheduled to hold in Osun and Ekiti states. “I am convinced that Southwest PDP, within the relatively short period of His Excellency, Segun Oni’s leadership, did everything possible to provide a responsible leadership that guaranteed an enlightened followership and which did everything possible to bring about the unity of members of the PDP in the zone. “I would say, with every sincerity that the Southwest PDP was, until Oni’s removal, led with every sincerity and purposefulness that allowed us to plan and strategise effectively to neutralise the opposition and their antics.” The leaders asked for huge political patronage to be able to check ACN. The memo said: “ From available indications, one issue that has been of great concern to the supporters of our great Party has been that of political patronage. “Several times, they have canvassed the feeling that the zone is not adequately catered for in the distribution of political offices at the national level. “I must state that the absence of PDP governments in the Southwest states must have naturally narrowed down the level of patronage which could have been supplemented by political appointments in the states and local governments. The situation could be said to have increased dependence on the Federal Government and by implication, its responsibilities and prerogatives. “Those of us in leadership positions made sure to impress it on our political followers that PDP at the national level would do everything possible, within reasonable limits, to satisfy the aspirations and support of the PDP in the Southwest zone for the national leadership of our great Party. “We could still do this by catering for diverse interests by tilting appointments at the federal level generally, in favour of the Southwest zone, which is generally believed to be disadvantaged at the moment. “The incidents treated in this compilation are very strong factors that cannot in any way be divorced from heightened fears of irrelevance and negative feelings nursed by a considerable number of members of the PDP in the zone.”