By Godwin Ijediogor (South-South Bureau Chief), Seye Olumide (Southwest Bureau Chief), Lawrence Njoku (Southeast Bureau Chief) and Anietie Akpan (Calabar)
The ripples caused by the recent suspension of some high-ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is still being felt across board, with many of those affected threatening all kinds of actions against the party and sabotage in its ongoing electioneering campaigns.
While the party grapples with the latest rumpus, some stakeholders have opined that the latest action is one of many that keep dividing the party and leading it down the path of self-implosion.
As the general elections draw near, observers have been pondering what effect the party’s unending crises, which has defied solution at all levels, may have on its fortunes in the presidential and governorship elections ahead given the current realities.
The party in the penultimate week suspended former Enugu State governor, Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu State) and Chief Chris Ogbu (Imo State) for alleged anti-party activities. Others who had also been slammed with suspension included Ayeni Funso – (Ekiti), Ajijola Lateef Oladimeji (Ekiti Central), Emiola Adenike Jennifer (Ekiti South II), Ajayi Babatunde Samuel (Ekiti North II), Olayinka James Olalere (Ekiti Central), Akerele Oluyinka (Ekiti North I) and Fayose Oluwajomiloju John (Ekiti Central I).
Reacting to his suspension by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), Nnamani said that the suspension came as a rude shock and huge surprise.
He stated: “I was never at any time notified of any petition or complaint against me, or informed of the grounds that formed the decision of the NWC of the PDP to suspend me from the party.
“I was not also invited to any meeting, proceeding, or hearing of the NWC of the party where my supposed offense (s) was/were discussed. I was, therefore, not afforded the opportunity to make representations on my behalf at any meeting where the proposal and decision to suspend me from the party was made.
“My right to fair hearing was consequently violated against the clear provisions of the constitution of the party, especially in disciplinary proceedings and more importantly, the superior constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Just as Nnamani complained of ill treatment, so did other party members who were suspended. The latest casualty of the suspension spree being the chairman of its Ebonyi State Chapter, Okorie Tochukwu Okoroafor, who the party’s NWC placed on immediate suspension in the penultimate Friday.
Again, according to the party, Okoroafor was suspended over allegations of anti-party activities and violation of provisions of Section 58 (1) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017), in what some have termed a gradual crackdown on forces against the Iyorchia Ayu leadership of the PDP.
The Governor Nyesom Wike group also better known as G-5 or Integrity Group, has been at war with Ayu since the conduct of the party’s presidential primary election in May 2022. Wike lost that election to former Vice president Atiku Abubakar. But the ripple effect of the feud across board has been disturbing, to say the least.
For instance, the party in Cross River State has remained divided as the Governor Wike/Atiku Abubakar crisis deepens. And politicians in the state have argued that if the crisis is not resolved, it will affect the chances of PDP in the state and at the national level.
A former member of the House of Representatives, who representated Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency in the state, Mrs. Nkoyo Toyo declared that it is dangerous for the PDP to go into the 2023 elections divided.
The former PDP governorship aspirant said, “We must remember that everyone who comes into an election, comes to win and when push comes to shove, people will deal with the reality of what is before them.
“The fact that Cross River State was, overtime, historically, a PDP state, was because we were also a ruling party in the state. As we speak, the PDP is not the ruling party. The resources we used to run elections in Cross River State in the past, have often been linked directly or indirectly to those in power.”
She warned: “Today, access to power and all the instruments of power are in the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and that APC is competing against the PDP. For me, it will be, to put it mildly, foolhardy to think that we in PDP can face this election, first as opposition, second without the resources of Cross River State, as well as the support of the state organs and institutions that hitherto, we used to have, and then decide that it is ok for us to split ourselves in the middle.
“I think there is sense in some candidates owing their success to Wike. I can name them, Jaribe in the North, Sandy Onor as governorship candidate, and by extension, few other persons here in the South got their tickets courtesy of that arrangement. So, you do not expect them to get up and do whatever they like; they do not even have the government of Cross River State as Wike has been the source of funding for them.
“In the absence of other funding sources that are dedicated to their elections, they have to be careful about which direction they take their anger and concerns to. Like we say in politics, one day is a very long time as so many things can change in one day. If you go beyond these persons that have had direct contact with Wike on the basis of their candidacy, you would hardly find anybody that is split between Wike and Atiku.
“So this so-called crisis that we are dealing with is an artificial construct because we in the PDP are not in doubt as to how we would win this election. We know for certain that if, for example, Atiku wins the first election, the bandwagon effect of his victory would be such that in two weeks, a lot of states would begin to support him on their own.
Source: The Guardian