The ruling Peoples Democratic Party's recent attempt to right the wrongs of the past in the election of some of its national officers on August 31, 2013, has divided rather than uniting it.
Two factions emerged with Alhaji Bamanga Tukur leading one and Alhaji Kawu Baraje leading the other.
At the party's mini-convention , seven governors elected on the party's platform and their supporters walked out of the Eagle Square in Abuja.
A series of meetings held to douse tension has so far failed to yield the desired result as each of the factional leaders remain adamant.
The crisis worsened on Wednesday with Tukur taking a combative posture, especially at a time the troubleshooting efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan and elders of the party are ongoing.
"All persons elected on the platform of our great party at all levels who identify with these enemies of the oneness and greatness of our party shall have their seats declared vacant as required by law," he told journalists in Abuja.
Baraje's reaction was also combative as he declared, "They ( the Tukur-led PDP) are all jokers. They don't know what party politics is. We are not surprised because Tukur is ignorant of party politics.
"In any case, the process of declaring seats of members of the national or state assembly vacant or calling members back is well known in the constitution."
What is happening now is by no means new. Struggle for power among competing individuals and interests has been a part of the PDP fabric since 1998 when it held its first convention in Jos, Plateau State.
Members of the party have always relied on its uncanny ability to drag itself out of the precipice each time a clash of interests threatens its existence.
The complaints among past and present members have always been that the party leaders stifle internal democracy.
Each time a new party leader is to emerge, imposition of candidates becomes the rule rather than the exception.
However, despite all these, the PDP has remained dominant.
The party appears to have developed a culture of trying to pursue the ideals of its founding fathers even as members struggle to interpret them to suit their individual desires.
Sadly, ordinary Nigerians have constantly been at the receiving end as governance is left to suffer.
Without prejudice to denials by most of the actors, the current scramble for the soul of the party is a fallout of permutations ahead of the 2015 elections.
In spite of their posturing, none of the factions is interested in the party losing its leadership position.
Like an insider puts it, "we will make all the trouble now and reconcile before 2014. It will be dangerous to allow this crisis run into 2014; we will resolve our problems like we have always done."
Punch
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