The binary division in the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the attendant tension it has inflicted on the polity has dominated media reports since last weekend when the PDP held her special convention at the Eagle Square, Abuja. Things began to rapidly fall apart with the crisis tearing through its epicenter. Seven governors under the party, alongside the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, staged a walk out at the convention venue and went to form a splinter; ‘New PDP’. The group acted in that wise as a mark of protest against what it felt was the deliberate policy of excluding notable leaders of the party by the leadership of what is now referred to as ‘Old PDP’ under the chairmanship of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
Since the incidental breakaway, the fall-out has been exponential. More state governors as well as members of the National Assembly who shared the sentiments of the ‘rebel’ camp have been reported to have joined them. Last Sunday, there was a marathon meeting of the ‘rebel’ governors and some leaders of the party with President Goodluck Jonathan as part of the last minute effort to save the party from sinking. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was also at the State House to confer with the President as a mediator between the two sides same day. Next day, Monday, the ‘New PDP’ was at the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to declare the Tukur-led executive of the ‘Old PDP’ illegal and so should stop parading itself as executive members of the party. As peace talks continued, other aggrieved stakeholders went to court last Tuesday asking it to nullify the PDP special convention as unconstitutional.
Ordinarily, there is nothing untoward about political disagreements in party politics, be it intra or inter party. But anyone who genuinely loves this country and believes in its unity and progress has every reason to worry about such a major crisis in PDP, a party that prides itself as the largest political party in Africa.
We are as worried as other patriotic Nigerians in the ongoing split in PDP. As the ruling party in control of the Federal Government of Nigeria, its national and international interests, anything that affects the well-being of PDP affects us as a nation to the roots. For instance, information within the intelligence circle points to the fact that the emergent security challenges in our country- terrorism and insurgency – are traceable to the mismanaged controversy over zoning system ahead of 2011 election where ethnic, regional and religious sentiments were stronger than national interest. That is why the current problem is worrisome.
As any informed analyst knows, the central factor in this crisis is the conflicting interest in 2015 presidential election. While the ‘New PDP’ elements have the right to express their grievances over their ‘maltreatment’ in the party as critical stakeholders, as rightly acknowledged by Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the Board of Trustees who was quoted by some reports, it is also unfortunate that such difference by angry members has been given a rather myopic colouration: the inordinate ambition to wrestle the presidency to the north in 2015 by all means. This is not how the party’s vision should be sold to the electorate.
We strongly urge the party to, as a matter of urgency, put its house in order. That is why the steps taken by party men and women to resort to dialogue and legal means in order to address their problems is in order. This crisis should not be mismanaged because it has all the potentials to bring down this government as well as the unity of our great country, Nigeria.