Merger: Piercing holes in PDP’s umbrella

    
In this report, OLUSOLA FABIYI examines the circumstances that made five governors from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party defect to the All Progressives Congress and asks whether more governors would also defect

Senator Patrick Osakwe may have left the Senate but his words remain on the marble in the upper chamber. The senator, who is from Delta State, was elected on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Party. Tired of being a lone voice in the Senate, Osakwe told his colleagues, including the Senate President, Senator David Mark, that he was defecting to a political party where milk and honey flow in abundance. The party, he said, was the PDP. According to him, no one should be in the opposition when the PDP’s umbrella was big enough to provide shade for its members. Besides, he reasoned that those under the shade were usually well-fed and looking chubby.

It was not only Osakwe who saw the “light” and walked into it. The leadership of the ruling party, backed by the Presidency, decided to woo some governors from the opposition. The action paid off as the Governor of Bauchi State, Mallam Isa Yuguda, from the All Nigeria Peoples Party, on whose platform he was elected, dropped the corn of the opposition party and moved to the PDP. The same scenario played out in Abia State as the governor, Chief Theodore Orji, moved from the Progressive Peoples Alliance, on which platform he was elected. This same party took away the then Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, from the PPA and welcomed him to its fold with drums and songs. The same thing happened in Zamafara State when a former governor, Mahmud Shinkafi, defected from the ANPP to the PDP.

But now, the milk and honey that attracted some governors to the PDP seem to have become sour – going by the events of the last few days. It all started like a joke when seven governors of the ruling party began their numerous trips to the homes of some leaders of the party and former Presidents and Heads of State. Their mission was to report what they considered as anomalies in their political party. They also wanted the world to know that their action was borne out of their love for the PDP in particular and the nation in general.

Signs that things had fallen apart within the once -united family started to manifest shortly before the chairmanship election of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. The dislike the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP have for the incumbent Chairman of the Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, was not in doubt. But Amaechi, who was seeking re-election as NGF chairman, was popular among his colleagues – especially those from the opposition.  While the ruling party and the northern governors, some of them under pretence, nominated the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Jonah Jang, as NGF chairman, others rallied round Amaechi. At the end of the controversial election, Jang, the candidate of the Presidency and the PDP fell, while Amaechi triumphed.  Not ready to swallow the pill of defeat, President Goodluck Jonathan and his party pitched tent with the defeated candidate by recognising him. That led to the factionalisation of the Forum and the eventual division within the party.

The PDP governors who supported the candidature of Amaechi eventually formed a pressure group known as the G7 governors. The seven aggrieved governors are Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara ) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa). They were also known as the aggrieved governors in the party.  They didn’t hide their grievances as they spoke with journalists and anyone who cared to listen about the perceived crisis in the party. Several meetings held with President Jonathan and former Presidents of the country aimed at bringing an end to the crisis were futile.

It was, however, not surprising when, on Tuesday, five of the governors, after their meeting with leaders of the All Progressives Congress, decided to defect from the ruling party and pitched their tent with the opposition party.  The governors are Amaechi, Wamakko, Nyako, Ahmed and Kwankwanso. The remaining two governors in the group, Lamido and Aliyu said they still prefer staying under the embattled umbrella and would, therefore, not defect now.

An aggrieved former Acting National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, read the communiqué of the meeting between the PDP governors and the APC leaders, where the defection plot was hatched.  The communiqué reads, “A meeting of the leadership of the APC and the new PDP met (sic) this morning at the residence of the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwanso, in Abuja. After exhaustive deliberation the two parties agreed to merge in order to rescue our fledgling democracy and the nation.” The communiqué was signed by Baraje and the Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande.

Does the ruling party feel threatened with this movement? It seems so – judging from the discordant tunes emanating from its national officers. First to react was its National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, who said that the governors would return to the ruling party after it might have won the 2015 general election.  Oladipo described the governors’ action as a manifestation of the very fertile environment that “we as a party have brought into the Nigeria political environment.”  He, however, predicted that the marriage between the aggrieved PDP governors and the APC would not last. Oladipo said, “The allegiance between the splinter group and the APC would not last and they would return to the PDP before long.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, however, said the party’s detractors have left. He said it would be wrong for the aggrieved governors to claim that they were leaving the PDP over alleged factional crisis in the ruling party. Metuh said, “We wish to state categorically that the PDP remains unperturbed as we are now rid of detractors and distractions.” He added that the beauty of democracy was that in a political party system, some members were bound to leave while others would come in.”

The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, may have hit the nail on the head when he expressed shock on the defection, saying that the aggrieved governors went too far in their decision. He said, “There is always a limit to demonstration of anger. If anger can cause you to pack all your bags and loads and then move into the home of your arch opponents; that to me is misdirected anger and it is unfortunate.”

Going by feelers from the governors and many members of the National Assembly, the party may have cause to see some of its members moving to the abode of those Tukur described as arch opponents.  For example, Lamido is waiting for the right time to enable him sort out the attest of his two sons by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission for an alleged money laundering. Aliyu as well, is also said to be begging for time before defecting. There are also rumours making the rounds that some other governors, especially from the northern part of the country are merely bidding for time before leaving Tukur and his party.

In anticipation of that, Tukur has started preaching reconciliation. On Wednesday, he appealed to members to bury the hatchet and join hands with him in order to move the party forward.  “What we are saying is let us come together as a party. Let us put behind us those secessions of crises and bickering,” he pleaded. Nigerians are waiting if his party members would act on this homily or follow their minds.

Copyright PUNCH.