Prospects of recovery by the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the southwest seem to be fading as the crisis rocking the party in the region persists. Jeremiah Oke examines some of the problems facing each of the states in the region.
Popularity of the southwest chapter of the People Democratic Party (PDP) was put to the test in the 2011 general elections; the party could not believe the result. It had been held that some factors ranging from the performance of their past governors in the region, its structure and deep-seated factionalisation cast shadow on the party in Africa as it went to the polls against an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that had been strengthened by its legal victory in Osun and Ekiti states.
No state in the Southwest PDP is crisis free. In Osun National Vice-Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, ahead of the 2011 general elections confusion reigned as chieftains struggled for control following the removal of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola from office.
The open display of affection by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, and Oyinlola for the former Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Chief Iyiola Omisore worsened the situation.
The zonal working committee of the party had earlier directed that the parallel executive and new secretariat established by the aggrieved leaders be dismantled. But the aggrieved members of the party have continued to maintain their ground, saying the directive is of no effect.
Before the final verdict that brought Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to power, some members of Osun PDP had said that they preferred the ACN candidate, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to emerge victorious in his petition being heard by an Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan, instead of Omisore flying its flag.
In Ogun State where the chairman Board of Trustees and former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, hails from, as well as the embattled immediate past Speaker of House of Representatives Hon. Dimeji Bankole differences are irreconcilable. Obasnjo has vowed never to be in the same party with the former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel whose actions are believed to have made the party lose to the during the last April elections.
The party went into the electoral battle with divided ranks with Obasanjo and Daniel holding paralled primaries, the Martins_Kuye and Obasanjo faction held its primaries of the premises of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential library in Abeokuta and it produced General Adetunji Olurin as candidate, while the Daniel faction held it own primaries at the Moshood Abiola Stadium and it produced Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka as candidate. The PDP national body and Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) officials were, however, represented only at the primaries conducted by the Daniel faction.
At a meeting held after the election last year, Obasanjo said: “Those who misbehaved before the election, if you say we should forgive them totally, they will do worse things next year. But those who have shown remorse should be allowed back into the party. But there are some that what they did was so bad that by the grace of God, I will never be in the same party with them for the rest of my life. “The statement is seen as a veiled reference to Daniel.
Oyo State is another state where PDP may not have its ways again in subsequent as the different factions operate freely. Some members of the party are aligned to former Governor Alao-Akala and others are loyal to the former governor’s bitter rival, Chief Lekan Balogun. Yet others see Senator Rasheed Ladoja, a former governor who defected to Accord as the rallying point. Ladoja is reported as planning to return to the troubled party.
The Akala faction recently announced the expulsion of some strong members of the party. Among them are former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, Senator Lekan Balogun, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo, former Minister of Power and Steel in the Sani Abacha regime, Elder Wole Oyelese and Hazeem Gbolarunmi, a close aide of the former political godfather of Chief Alao-Akala, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu and a former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Abass Olopoenia. They were accused of working against the interest of the party during the last general elections. Six days after the said expulsion, the Senator Balogun-led faction recommended to the PDP national secretariat that Alao-Akala be expelled from the party for creating confusion in the state.
But Akala described the Balogun faction as a renegade group that should “go back to their wards and seek reconciliation before they can be considered as members again.” Meanwhile Senator Balogun has kicked against the proposed reconciliation move by the Akala faction, saying the composition of the committee members is lopsided.
Now with their suspension, implosion and failure of the reconciliation move, which of the group could be trusted and considered as genuine.
The party cannot be said to be on ground in Lagos State as the face-off between the former Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Olabode George and Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe continues to rage. George has alleged that Ogunlewe had always worked for Senator Bola Tinubu. “Whatever we discussed are no secrets because we had moles who revealed our strategies to our opponents,” George claimed.
Ogunlewe denied the anti-party accusations, and described George’s statement as “unwarranted.” He said he was on the Presidential Campaign Council, which saw to the emergence of Dr Goodluck Jonathan as president.
Performance of the present governor in Lagos state Mr Babatunde Fasola may not pave way for any political party in the state.
In the Ekiti arm of the party, a group known as the “Progressive Youths of Peoples Democratic Party” recently identified the problems of the PDP as poor performance of the PDP in the state and the inability of ousted Governor Segun Oni to reorganise the party after his exit from office.
The group said: “We observe that instead of our leaders to come together to rebuild the party, they have been pursuing selfish interests. Oni, as the state governor, was the leader of the party in the state who should be held responsible for what befell the party in the state. He did not see any reason for the reorganisation of the PDP. Instead, he is busy fighting Justice Salami and the Minister of State for FCT, Caleb Olubolade, who the constitution of the party has already crowned leader of the party as the minister representing the state.”
There has also been crisis within the PDP in the state over the list of ministerial nominees sent to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Crisis in Ondo State deepened as a former Finance Commissioner under the Olusegun Agagu administration, Chief Tayo Alasoadura, resigned from the party. He dumped the party despite perceived reconciliation of warring members of the party.
His faction and those loyal to former Governor Agagu engaged in war of words which polarised the party before the crisis that followed the submission of ministerial nominees list. Throughout the meetings leading to the alleged reconciliation, Alasoadura did not attend any and there were insinuations that heading to the ACN.
Omission of the name of the former Minister of Defence Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) from the list created another phase of the crisis as some of his loyalists rejected the list. Under the aegis of the Ondo PDP Coalition Forum, they said “the list was not inclusive and it was meant to finally nail the coffin of the party in the state.”
The Coalition through their Coordinator, Chief Ade Babalola said “the names were arrived at without adequate consultations with members across the state.
The group which claimed that it had abroad-based support across the state said “if this list is allowed to sail through, we want to say with every sense of responsibility that the PDP is dead in this state.”
An analyst said: “If the party leaders in the region are serious about the future of the party, they need to turn a new leaf and take the bull by the horn by tackling the problems facing the party in the region. It is also high time the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party rose up to its challenges in the region and see to the reconciliation programmes as a national issue.
Can a party be so divided and yet positioned to be relevant? The poor performance of the PDP in the Southwest denied it the opportunity of providing the Speaker of the House of Representatives. While the PDP in the region is bemoaning its fate, the ACN has profited from its discomfort. It played a major role in the politics that produced Hon. Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker. Can the party recover? Seldom are political sins forgiven.
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