Five reasons the PDP is falling apart

Since it lost the March 28, 2015 presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) once dubbed the biggest political party in Africa has never been the same again.

It has reeled from one crisis to the other with thousands leaving the umbrella cover of the party.

The party is striving to put its house in order, as it holds its national convention today. But this is also a source of division as there are to be two parallel conventions; one in Port Harcourt, the Rives State capital while a faction is holding another in Abuja.

The party may be on the verge of an implosion, and here are the five major reasons it has found itself at the crossroads:

• Absence of political patronage: The loss of the presidential seat as well as several governorship positions across the nation has left the party depleted. The PDP also lost the leadership of the National Assembly to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

These electoral losses have affected the fortunes, membership and structure of the party in almost all the 36 states. Thousands are defecting every week from the party because there is no patronage to dispense again.

Investigations revealed that hitherto die-hard members and faithful of the party have become restive and uncontrollable since there is no more patronage to dispense to them.

A chairman of the party in the South West confided in Ripples Nigeria that bringing members together has become almost impossible because there is “nothing again to share.”

He said many foot soldiers and think-tanks of the party have either jumped ship or gone into political recesses because their “services have become impossible to pay for.”

• Fear of EFCC: A closely related factor is the renewed vigour of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The anti-corruption body has been exposing the massive splurge the PDP was allegedly perpetrating

Many chieftains of the party are facing trial or answering questions from the anti-corruption agency on their roles during the 2015 general elections where billions allocated for anti-terror war were said to have been diverted to prosecuting the exercise.

This has left many governors and party office holders wary of funding PDP activities. Aggrieved members have also been exposing perceived enemies to the anti-graft commission to help eliminate them.

A point in case was the revelation by the acting chairman, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff that former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana got a loan of N500million for the party’s failed fund raising drive towards the last general election.

• Battles for 2019: Like savvy politicians that they are, many top shot in the party are already positioning themselves for positions in 2019. Sheriff, for example, is nursing a presidential election. Governor Ayo Fayose is toyng with the idea of running for the vice presidential slot.

This permutation was what punctured the peace moves at the last Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting in Abuja. Sheriff accepted to drop the constitutional amendment process in exchange for extension of his tenure till 2018. He accepted former Transport Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe as BoT secretary and Senator Jibrin Walid as chairman to accommodate others.

Read also: How APC is masterminding PDP’s breakup

Everything appeared settled until some leaders from the South West pointed out the concessions will allow Sheriff consolidate for two years as chairman till 2018 before stepping aside to pick the presidential ticket.

That possibility was why the peace moves failed and the centre could no longer hold.

• Power tussles: It is no secret that governors on the platform of the party and ex-governors as well as ministers do not see eye to eye. There is no love lost among them. Governors believe the ex-governors have had their time and should leave them to lead the party.

The ex-governors and ministers, on their part, believe they have invested time and resources in the party, and therefore feel they deserve to have a say in the running of the party.

Governors Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Rivers are considered too powerful for comfort by ex-office holders in the party.

• Personal egos: While in power, the party attracted so many big political fishes that have since refused to swim together now that there is nothing much to share again.

Fayose, for example, has become the rallying point for the party in the South West. But former vice chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, cannot stand the ebullient politician’s charm and courage.

In the north central, former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu is calling the shot again. But former Governor Jonah Jang will have none of him. This is why the crisis in the Plateau State chapter has been intractable.

The inability to manage the many big egos in the party has been an albatross for the once viable party.

The post-convention days will tell the direction the party is heading to, and how soon it may be able to get back on its feet to provide a viable opposition to the ruling party, in time for the 2019 elections.

 

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