Crisis Deepen As Speculation reveals PDP chieftains who may replace Mu’azu

The call on members of the Peoples Democratic Party National Working Committee to resign as a result of the party’s poor performance in the last general elections has shifted the search for the party’s new chairman to the South-South,
FISAYO FALODI writes...
Many weeks after the Peoples Democratic Party was defeated in the 2015 general elections, the party has been embroiled in one crisis or the other since its poor performance in the polls. The party chieftains, who are expected to have learnt a major lesson from the PDP pre-election internal crisis, appear to have been divided over the real reasons the party failed in the polls.

Some PDP governors, including Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State insisted that members of the party’s National Working Committee must resign to give room for fresh crop of leaders to manage the affairs of the party.
The PDP, which previously controlled the National Assembly with its majority status and had 21 state governors before the general elections, has now become an opposition party as a result of its poor outing in the last polls.
The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Alhaji Abdukadir Abdulsalam, recently expressed doubt in the PDP’s ability to perform the role of an opposition party, saying the party might not be able to recover from the defeat because its leaders were not committed to the party.
Some pundits believe that Abdulsalam’s prediction might come to pass unless the PDP leaders accept the defeat as a natural phenomenon. They expressed the view that forcing members of the Adamu Mu’azu led NWC to vacate office before the expiration of their tenure might not necessarily be the way out of the party’s post-election crisis.
As the calls for the resignation of the Mu’azu-led NWC members continue to gain traction even from some members of the PDP Board of Trustees, many names have been thrown up among which the new PDP national chairman may likely emerge. Those calling for the PDP National Chairman’s ouster were said to be pushing for the South-South to produce Mu’azu’s replacement.
Among the names popping up are those of a former Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili; Cross River State Governor, Mr. Liyel Imoke; and Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. While Imoke is said to be a gentleman and capable of navigating the ship of the party out of its current state, Uduaghan is believed to have the financial strength to fund the party’s activities.
Political watchers, however, said that for the PDP to continue to remain relevant, the party should not think of replacing Mu’azu’s with a candidate from the South-South where the party appears to be strong now. They concurred that those suspected to be eyeing the PDP National chairmanship position are eminently qualified, but picking any of them to succeed Mu’azu would reduce the PDP to a regional party.
The PDP controls five out of the six states in the South-South and just like in the South-East, produced almost all the National Assembly members. On the contrary, the party won only in Taraba State out of the 19 states in the North while adding Ondo and Ekiti states in the South-West.
Of the PDP chieftains suspected to be showing interest in the party’s chairmanship position, only Imoke had publicly denied the claim. He had told journalists in Calabar that he would stay away from holding any public office after May 29, 2015 handover and remain a firm member of the PDP.
He said, “I have been in the public limelight for much longer than 16 years. I intend to step away from the public limelight even though I remain a loyal party member and a strong supporter of my party. I will work for my political party to the extent that is necessary but I do not intend to run for any public office.”
Imoke, however, said the party’s defeat would obviously have some consequences and impacts. “There is need to rebuild the party. We should not allow the party to disintegrate; some sacrifices may have to be made for the greater good of rebuilding the party,” he said.
Uduaghan has yet to confirm or deny interest in the party’s top job despite being canvassed as a capable replacement for the embattled PDP chairman. It was said that those canvassing the name of the outgoing Delta State governor as one of the likely replacement of Mu’azu were of the view that he has a deep pocket and would be able to fund the party after vacating office on May 29.
Party members believe that Uduaghan’s utterances and body language lately gave him out as having interest in the party’s National chairmanship position. They referred to the governor’s recent comment in which he was quoted as saying that the PDP was already working on rebuilding its structures so that it could give the APC a good fight at the federal level.
Similarly, Odili has not denied interest in replacing Mu’azu as the PDP National Chairman, but sources said the former governor, who had not been visible in the party’s activities until he declared support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid before the general elections, has the charisma and the leadership quality to bail the party out of the wood.
According to the sources, entrusting the PDP leadership in Odili, who is considered as one of the founding fathers of the party, will enhance its rebuilding process.
However, analysts pointed out that what the PDP needed now is critical analysis of the problem that caused it to lose the presidential elections. They said that with Mu’azu as the party leader, it could still maintain its national outlook and popularity.
A lecturer in the Department of Local Government Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Francis Fagbohun, asked all the warring groups within the party to accept the party’s woeful performance as a natural phenomenon, instead of throwing tantrums at one another.
Fagbohun said instead of pushing for Mu’azu’s resignation, the warring groups should close ranks and work towards bringing those who dumped the party before the elections back for it to assume the status of a strong opposition party.
He argued that every PDP stakeholder contributed to the party’s failure and asking somebody from the South-South to replace Mu’azu should not be seen as a solution to the raging crisis rocking the party.
Fagbohun said, “Nigerians were fed up with the PDP, but it was only the party that was unable to see it. Everybody saw the defeat coming. What is happening is a natural phenomenon. The PDP lost the election it never believed it could lose. The party lost the election due to over- confidence.
“There is bound to be reactions like trading blames over who caused the party’s defeat. Before the general elections, nearly all the PDP chieftains were going round sharing money to influence voters. That was why I said the party was over-confident. After the defeat, nobody would want to accept responsibility, but the way they are going about the post-election crisis, it may possibly signal the end of the party.”
To bail itself out of the post-election trauma, the Professor of Political Science asked the PDP chieftains to handle the issue with seriousness and maturity.
He said, “This is not the time to trade blame. It is supposed to be the time to sit down and identify what is wrong and find out how to get the power back in the next four years. Mu’azu’s resignation is not the solution to the issue or problem. Nearly all the officials of the party lost their states during the elections. The PDP secretary is from Osun State and the party lost in the state. The best thing is for the party to sit down and analyse the problem to get solution.”
While pointing out the implication of thrusting the leadership of the party on someone from the South-South, Fagbohun said, “Unfortunately, if the leadership of the party should shift to the South-East or the South-South where its candidates won majority of the elective positions, the PDP may become a regional party.”
But Prof Dauda Saleh of the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja, however, believes that picking Mu’azu’s replacement from the South-South might not reduce the PDP to a regional party especially if the party has the intention of selecting its presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections from the North. He said the party ought to have overcome its trauma by now and should begin the process of rebuilding itself for future elections.
Saleh said though Uduaghan or any of the PDP chieftains might succeed Mu’azu, the PDP National Chairman should be allowed to serve out his tenure.
He said, “I was told that Mu’azu has up till February or April next year to complete his tenure. So, those calling for his replacement should wait till that time. We need strong political parties in Africa, including Nigeria to be able to form good government.”
Like Fagbohun, he said it was improper to call for Mu’azu’s resignation when he alone did not cause the party’s defeat.
He said, “It is wrong to lay the whole blame on Mu’azu, though he may share in the blame. But it is wrong to heap the whole blame on him because of his actions or inactions as the PDP National Chairman.
“For those pushing for the South-South to produce the new party chairman, what they have in mind is that the party will zone its presidential position to the North in 2019. If that is the case, then the party cannot be said to be reducing to a regional party.”