EVEN before former President Olusegun Obasanjo came out to demand a youthful president as the way forward for Nigeria, the search for the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming Presidential Election has been intriguing. This is mainly because of the opposing interests and avalanche of powerful aspirants desperate to pick the party’s ticket.Given that most of the serious aspirants are old political warlords, the party’s dilemma over the choice of its presidential candidate has been further deepened by the current campaign for younger leaders, The Nation investigation confirms.
It would be recalled that during the 2015 General Elections, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) practically closed its doors against would-be presidential aspirants as it made it clear to all and sundry that it would not allow anybody to drag the party’s presidential ticket with the then incumbent President, GoodluckEbele Jonathan. Today, that decision is one of such, that many commentators, within and outside the party, have blamed for the landslide defeat of the PDP in that year’s general election.
After the blinding loss to the All Progressive Congress (APC) then a budding mega-party peopled largely by individuals and groups opposed to the continued presidency of Jonathan, the PDP was thrown into chaos as it struggled to keep its house in order. The self-acclaimed biggest political party in Africa moved from one intra-party leadership wrangling to the other until it was rescued by a Supreme Court judgement last year.
Perhaps determined to right the wrong of the past, the PDP promptly held an elective convention where new leadership was given to the troubled party. Though controversies and threats of fresh crises trailed the convention, it appears the Prince UcheSecondus-led National Executive Committee enjoys the support of major organs and stakeholders within the party. Thus, it has been making efforts to move the party forward against all odds.
Pundits have been applauding the new leadership, especially after it successfully managed the biggest post-convention threat to the party’s unity. A group of aggrieved chieftains had after the convention last December announced the birth of a new faction of the party called Fresh PDP. The promoters had promptly announced a parallel Executive Committee and secretariat.
In a manner many still say is unusual of the PDP in its hey days, the national leadership of the party for weeks, engaged the Fresh PDP in series of dialogues and meetings even as the publicity unit of the party refused to be dragged into verbal or media wars with the new faction. After weeks of consultations and dialogue, the Fresh PDP announced its decision to fuse back into the PDP and end the factionalisation of the party.
Announcing this decision after a meeting with a former National Chairman of the party, OkwesiliezeNwodo, in Abuja, Chairman of the ‘Fresh PDP’ OlukayodeAkindele, said the party is bigger than any individual or group, stating that it was time for a ceasefire. “I am delighted to tell you that we have collapsed into the mainstream PDP. We have assurances from our leaders and we will not have a parallel NWC on Monday,” he said.
An excited Nwodo told newsmen that the truce was broken with the knowledge and support of the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Working Committee (NWC) and other organs of the party, adding, “if the Fresh PDP was allowed to form a structure on Monday, they would have given legitimacy to our members to leave the PDP. We have learnt our lessons and we are coming back more prepared and resolute to change the fortunes of this country.”
However, as the PDP revels in the success of its management of the threat posed by the defunct Fresh PDP, pundits and inside sources say the party is currently in a dilemma over how best to handle the emergence of its presidential flag bearer for the 2019 General Elections. Still aching from the many errors it allegedly committed while undertaking the same assignment in 2015, the party says it is determined to get it right this time.
Indications that the party may not find it easy arriving at the choice of who to present as its presidential candidate in 2019 emerged immediately after its elective National Convention, held in Abuja last December. Party sources claimed some developments at the convention altered certain permutations on ground and introduced new dimensions into the ongoing search for PDP’s presidential flag-bearer.
“The ease with which the controversial ‘Unity list’ sailed through at the much publicised convention rattled some powerful blocs within the party. It also introduced a new fear; the fear of the possibility of a group imposing a candidate on the party. Similarly, the convention also reinforced earlier fears that some deals may have been struck among some chieftains concerning the 2019 presidential race.
The search is on
Former Anambra governorship aspirant on the platform of the party, KodilichukwuOkelekwe, indicated possible happenings within the PDP when he warned that his party will lose the next presidential election in 2019 if it fails to pick the right candidate. He said while the odds currently favour the PDP ahead of the 2019, the party may lose the opportunity if it repeats its mistakes of the past by picking the wrong presidential candidate.
“I am advising my party, the PDP. I am saying clearly that we must make sure that we choose the right aspirant as our presidential candidate. 2019 presents us with an opportunity to return to power. The election is ours to lose. Once we pick the right presidential candidate, Nigerians will overwhelmingly return PDP to power. We can see that APC was not ready for governance. They were more interested in taking power but they have no blue print for governance.
Governance is a serious business and PDP, we have done it before. We have the experience and we can do it again. That does not mean that there were no mistakes in the past. As is the case with anything human, we are not infallible; infallibility belongs to God. We have learnt from those minor mistakes and we will take them into account when we return to the government in 2019. There are certain things that PDP will no doubt do differently based on past experiences,” he said.
But while speaking to The Nation during the week on how PDP intends to handle the emergence of its next presidential candidate, Senator WalidJibrin, Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), said the PDP is not leaving any stone unturned as it strives to ensure that the party does things right this time. According to him, it is important for the opposition party to avoid the pitfalls of the past.
“Take my words for it. I have said this before and it is the true state of things with the PDP. We are working to present the best presidential candidate for Nigerians this time. And like we said earlier too, the PDP candidate will be from the North in 2019. The party’s leadership in the North had already put in place machinery to ensure the emergence of the best presidential candidate from the area in 2019.
“All of us as a party have agreed that the President of Nigeria should come from the North in 2019. I enjoin you to support the North to bring and give us capable presidential candidate. We are all doing what we can in the North with all the leaders to identify who is the best candidate to rule this country. The best person that will take power from the ruling party in 2019 is our own, 2019 is for the PDP,” he said.
The Nation also learnt that the party is still undecided over the modalities for the presidential primary elections. Party sources say currently, talks are on about either retaining the presidential convention approach or adopting the Option A4 approach proposed in 2016 by the then leadership of the party. According to findings by our correspondents, party chieftains are sharply divided on the matter.
It was learnt that while the Option A4 proposal was discussed and approved by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in 2016, it was agreed that it should be ratified at a national convention of the party for it to become part of its constitutional provisions. But that was not to be as the issue was neither raised nor discussed at the last convention of the party in Abuja.
A chieftain of the PDP and former Publicity Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Anambra State, Arthur Nwoye, while speaking to our correspondent during the week, revealed that there is a growing agitation within the party that the Option A4 system must be adopted for the 2019 presidential primary election. He explained that many party bigwigs are of the opinion that the approach will help the party to do the right thing.
“It is true we are considering how to go about the presidential nomination ahead of the 2019 General Election. You will recall that our party leadership proposed the Option A4 as an approach that will help the party do things better. It was widely applauded and supported. Our then Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, took time to educate party members and Nigerians on how it will work.
“It was resolved that we go to a convention to ratify the decision of the leadership. We all remember that we were unable to hold convention until the Supreme Court gave its judgement. At the convention, the issue was not raised and we suspect that was intentional. Already, we are seeing that some people are not comfortable with the Option A4 suggestion because it will make it difficult for them to impose a candidate on us. But we are unrelenting in our request for it,” he said.
Beyond the PDP
And as the opposition party intensifies its search for a sellable presidential candidate ahead of the next general election, there are indications that the PDP may have decided to spread its dragnet beyond its own shores, into the space of other political parties, especially the ruling APC, in its quest to ensure that it procures a candidate with the right capabilities to help the opposition unseat the ruling party in 2019.
Findings by The Nation revealed that many chieftains of the PDP are supportive of an alleged move by some forces within the party to open up the contest for the party’s presidential ticket in such a way that returnees and new entrants into the party would be able to seek and possibly win the ticket ahead of the next election, not minding the time they join the PDP.
Sources within the party told The Nation that it is this line of thinking that informed the recent amendment of the party’s constitution to allow defectors and other new members contest elections. According to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, all the new entrants and old members of the party would be allowed to test their popularity during the party’s primaries.
“We are not closing our doors to new entrants who want to contest the party’s presidential ticket. Our doors are open to them. We have amended our constitution to take care of their interest as well as those of other members. We are looking for credible people to fly our ticket in 2019. We have amended the constitution, which has now reduced the years that defectors can stay in the party before contesting election from two years to just six months,” he said.
The Nation learnt that the PDP is strongly working on some of its former members who left the party for the APC in the build up to the 2015 General Elections, to return to the party and help in its struggle to return to power. According to party sources, it is not impossible that one of such former chieftains being expected to return to the party will be favored to emerge as the presidential candidate of the party in 2019.
“For now, the many talks about who will be the party’s flag bearer remain in the realm of mere speculations. I can tell you that the leadership of the party and numerous other stakeholders are daily holding meetings and talking about how to procure the best man for the job ahead. But in arriving at who will lead us to the next political battle as our presidential candidate, the PDP is currently considering a number of factors,” our source added.
Checks within the party by our correspondents revealed that party leaders and other stakeholders have been meeting to discuss, not just the modalities through which the presidential candidate of the party will emerge, but also the many things to consider, given the current political realities, chief of which is the fact that the party is now in opposition, seeking to dethrone a sitting President.
To go with this are other germane considerations the party will have to take decisions on if it desires to win the 2019 Presidential Election. According to party sources, the party is searching for a candidate who can defeat incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC. Thus, concerns are being raised about issues like the age of the-would be candidate, his public image, who will be his running mate and how is candidature will help resolve some nagging disaffection within the party, especially in the South-West zone.
The Age factor
Although leaders of the party were said to have been considering the issue of age all along as they discussed the various options for the party ahead of the 2019 presidential election, The Nation learnt that following the surprise open letter to President Buhari by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling on the former to resign largely on account of old age and performance, and the seeming support given to this call by ex-Military President Ibrahim Babangida, the need for the opposition party to field a younger candidate against Buharihas taken the center stage.
Obasanjo, in an open letter that is still trending weeks after he dropped it, said Buhari is not healthy enough to withstand the rigour associated with running a country like Nigeria and has performed far below expectation and should honourably “dismount from the horse” to join the league of the country’s former leaders whose “experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country.”
Obasanjo, a two-term president on the platform of PDP, said he feels disappointed by Buhari, whom he supported during the 2015 election over the then incumbent and candidate of his former party, Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo further argued that neither the President nor his party hold the solution to the country’s problems. “He has a role to play on the side line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.
2019: Politics of PDP ticket
