‘New PDP’ spreads wings to states

The formation of the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the special convention of the party in Abuja late last month has reintroduced the issue of factions in many states including those where such issues were thought to have been rested.From what has happened so far, the crack may not stop at the national level […]

The formation of the new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the special convention of the party in Abuja late last month has reintroduced the issue of factions in many states including those where such issues were thought to have been rested.
From what has happened so far, the crack may not stop at the national level but will lacerate the fabric of the party down to the states and even local government and ward levels.
Seven governors out of the 23 on the platform of the PDP broke out to form a new PDP which recognizes not the leadership of Bamanga Tukur and his National Working Committee (NWC) members but former acting national chairman of the party, Abubakar Kawu Baraje and his officials.
Owing mainly to this crisis this week alone, factions of the party have sprung up in six states in the country while many others are also threatening to join the league.
The threat of the new PDP in the states has been so real that the state chairmen of the Bamanga-led PDP had to call for a meeting to devise strategies for countering what has now become like a surge in the country.
At the meeting which held in Abuja on Sunday, it was learnt that many of the state chairmen admitted that there were grievances on ground in their respective states which could be exploited by any group given an opportunity such as the one that currently exists to throw in a surprise.
The meeting attended by PDP chairmen from Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Oyo, Cross River, Adamawa, Yobe, Ekiti, Benue, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Nasarawa, Ondo, Lagos, Gombe (acting) Ogun, Osun, Plateau and that of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) quickly expressed support to Bamanga Tukur in order to clear any doubt.
What had become worrisome to the state chairmen according to sources at the meeting, was how the national secretariat of the party is handling the matter. They say if the national leadership of the party is unable to handle the matter at that level, then it would be twice difficult for them in the states to do anything as the new PDP members it was pointed out, could draw encouragement from whatever happens at the national level.
It was said that the closure of the new PDP secretariat in Abuja was hailed by the state chairmen who see it as a positive step towards consolidating their grip on the party.
They were said to have not only welcomed the act but encouraged it saying it is the kind of action they would like to see the national body of the party as well as the presidency taking so that they would be encouraged to apply same measures in their respective states.
Chairman of Rivers PDP, Felix Obuah, even suggested the expulsion of the seven governors involved in the new PDP from the party to serve as deterrent to others.
 Most of the chairmen it was learnt shared his  view as many of them were said to have admitted that there are limits to what they can do in the state to stop such developments if allowed to germinate especially in states where the PDP is either not in government or the governor of the state is an open or secret supporter of the new PDP.
Chairman of the conference of PDP chairmen, Dr. Agbo Emmanuel, said it is imperative for the national leadership of the party to support the state chairmen to check the spread of the new PDP in their respective states.
Agbo said the blood pressure level of the state chairmen had tripled in the process of trying to ward off any likely duplication of their offices since the splinter group emerged from the party at the national level.
States where the old factions of the PDP have been revived include; Nasarawa, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Rivers, Yobe, Anambra and Taraba States, while states where there are fears that the old factions may be revived include Lagos, Plateau and Katsina.
Daily Trust learnt that PDP members especially in states where the Independent  National Electoral Comission  (INEC) had faulted the process of their congresses last year but which issue have not been addressed are taking opportunity of the splinter to float their own versions of the party.
Last year INEC said the congresses in  Sokoto, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Lagos, Anambra and Katsina were not held in line with laid down guidelines for the convention and guidelines but not much had been done to address the anomaly.
While some of the states like Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Kastina learnt to live with the problem, it had caused serious disaffection and further crisis in others like Anambra where two candidates have emerged  inthe party for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
But states where existing grievances had been suppressed could not have found a better opportunity to express their grouse.
On Monday, former governor of Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva revived his own faction of the PDP which pledged its allegiance to the Abubakar Kawu Baraje led new PDP.
The faction is led by an interim chairman who is a former security adviser to Sylva, Chief Richard Kpodor and is said to be backed by former chairmen of the party in the senatorial districts as well as in the local governments of the state.
The new PDP also sprung up in Kaduna the home of the vice president,  and expressed loyalty to the Baraje led faction. A statement by a former chairman of the party in the state Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama said the decision to identify with the new PDP was taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Namadi Sambo as vice president.
The leadership of the new PDP in Kaduna State said since the elevation of Sambo, the fortunes and prestige of the PDP in the state has been declining.
In Adamawa, the state governor whose delegates were not allowed to the PDP convention quickly revived the Kaugama Mijinyawa faction  and totally turned his back on the  Chief Joel Madaki faction recognized by the national secretariat of the party.
This has angered party leaders in the state who have done all to fight the governor’s faction in the past insisting and were almost succeeding as it would mean they have to start all over again.
Just as the torch was being lighted in Adamawa, the new PDP torch in Taraba immediately caught the flame as some party leaders in Taraba State resolved to join forces with the new PDP leaders in neigbhouring Adamawa by declaring support and loyalty to the new PDP faction led by Baraje.
A former chairman of the party in the state, Abdulmumuni Vaki, who is leading the revolt called for the resignation of  Bamanga and pointed out that their faction was to protest its exclusion from the recently-concluded national convention of the party in Abuja.
He said that his faction was disenfranchised even when INEC, had declared null and void the congress that brought the rival executive into power.
PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur who commented on the issue encouraged the state chairmen to stand and defend democracy saying he believes that the PDP has internal mechanisms for resolving disputes.
He said it is normal in a democracy for the minority to have their say while the majority have their way saying from the evidence before him, the PDP chairmen standing before him are in the majority. He said he believes the current problem affecting the party is not beyond resolution.
But it is clear that the issue had gone beyond manageable point and like a wild flame, nobody knows the extent it would spread even as the party leaders resume their meeting on resolving the issue within the week.