From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
What is the way forward for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? That is one question begging for answers, as the country gradually warms up for the 2019 general elections.
In recent times, leaders of the PDP have sought ways to rebrand the party and make it one of choice for voters, especially in the build up to the next general elections.
The PDP governed the country from 1999 to 2015, after which it suffered defeat at the polls. In its hey days, the party which prided itself “as the largest party in Africa”, controlled the presidency, the two chambers of the National Assembly and majority of the 36 states across the country for 17 years.
But since it lost the 2015 presidential elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP has been plagued with internal crises.
A leadership tussle between a former acting national chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi has further weakened the party as it has broken into two factions, with several litigations over the authentic leadership before various courts across the country.
Also, in recent times, the political fortunes of the party have continued to dwindle. Apart from its loss in the just concluded Ondo governorship election, it also lost the recent governorship election in Edo State even as party chieftains across the country are defecting in droves to the APC.
Apparently troubled with the state of affairs, party leaders at various levels are making frantic efforts to reposition the party and make it more appealing to voters.
Some political analysts have even suggested an outright re-branding of the party, which would include a change of its name.
The quest for reforms
After an attempt to resolve the leadership crises in the party failed recently, Makarfi inaugurated a 115-man committee to review the party’s manifesto, its constitution and explore ways of possible collaboration with other political parties in the 2019 general elections.
The committee christened “Strategy Review and Inter Party Affairs Committee” is chaired by former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana. On its assignment, the committee is expected to reach out to aggrieved members and former members of the party, and also other disgruntled members of the other political parties.
The committee is expected to submit its report by the end of January 2017.
While inaugurating the committee last November, Makarfi said the move was necessary to ensure that the party bounces back to reckoning.
“After due consultation, we felt that time is now right to set up a committee, called strategy review and inter-party affairs committee.
“Strategy is how to come back to power in 2019 through every democratic means. And inter-party affairs, even as caretaker committee, we get approached by various groups and we feel that it is not just few of us that should be talking to them. You don’t remain docile and inactive or cornered to be toyed around with at the whims and caprices of anybody,” the caretaker committee chairman said.
He added:”Time is going, and if we don’t bring everyone together to talk as one family, before long, a good chunk of them would have gone on their own, because nobody will remain inactive forever.”
According to Makarfi, the committee is expected to come up with strategies to engage all possible allies and make recommendations on how to reposition the party for optimum performance in future elections.
Since the inauguration of the committee, there have been speculations about what the true intentions of the committee are. In recent times, there have been speculations that the PDP plans to liaise with other parties to form a mega party.
Unconfirmed sources say the Makarfi group is planning to collaborate with disgruntled members of the APC to form a new party.
The committee is said to be reaching out to former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, former Lagos governor, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and other disenchanted APC chieftains to be part of the mega party.
But Gana recently told journalists in Abuja that the PDP was not ‘yet’ part of any proposed mega party, while insisting that the party does not have any plan to change its name .
He said the PDP is more disposed to a merger or an alliance with other political parties for the purpose of winning in 2019.”On the issue of a mega party, we are not yet aware of PDP’s involvement, but all we can say is that the party wants to relate with lovers of democracy from all the parties.
“The PDP is desirous of attracting all lovers of democracy across the country as we move forward. But there are details I cannot divulge at the moment because the committee’s recommendation will be passed on to the party leadership. It will not be wise to disclose the details before we submit the report” he said.
He explained that already a syndicate committee chaired by a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu is already working out modalities for any possible re-alignment.
Similarly, the Sheriff faction is also making its own plan to reposition the party.
Sheriff, who is also a former governor of Borno State, said recently that two committees set up by his faction to come up with ways of repositioning the party had already submitted their report.
The factional leader said the constitution review committee recommended amongst others that former president and governors elected on the platform of the party be barred from adopting candidates to succeed them at the expiration of their tenures.
Principally, the reforms being championed by the Sheriff faction is geared toward whittling down the influence of PDP state governors on the affairs of the party.
From inception, the party was structured in such a way that governors elected on its platform have wielded enormous influence in the affairs of the party in the respective states and at the national level.
The Deputy National chairman of the Sheriff faction, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh says that for the PDP to make progress, acts of impunity by governors elected on the party’s platform must be brought to an end.
Ojougboh said the governors are responsible for the sorry state of the party today. He added that the actions of the governors cost the party victory in a number of states in the 2015 polls.
“Recall that in 2015 general elections, we lost elections in ten (10) States where we had Governors in the North due to impunity. The States are: Benue, Kogi, Niger, Jigawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Bauchi and Adamawa,” he said.
The factional deputy national chairman added that the redemption of the party lies in waning of the control of the governors and returning it to the grassroots.
How the Supreme Court will affect PDP re-branding efforts
One factor that will determine what happens to the PDP in 2019 is the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement on the leadership crisis.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that the PDP bigwigs plan to quit the party if former governor of Borno State, gains an upper hand in the leadership crisis in the party.
A source confirmed to Daily Sun that although such a plan is being mooted, it will be the last option. “Yes, it is being mooted. But it is actually the last option. All the governors, legislators, Board of Trustees members, and other party leaders are together. If things get to a head, we will move out and form a new party and leave the carcass of PDP for Sheriff and the people with him, “ the source stated recently.
However, another source said even though the issue is being discussed by party chiefs, it is “inconceivable” that Sheriff would have the upper hand.
If those opposed to Sheriff leaves the party in the event of the Borno governor winning the case on the leadership tussle, then that may just be the beginning of the end for the PDP.
A similar scenario played out in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) after the 2003 general election. Following a leadership crisis in the party, former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu and other leaders of the party dumped the platform and formed the defunct Action Congress (AC).
Since that defection, things have not been the same for the AD, which hitherto controlled six states at the inception of the current democratic dispensation.
Former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak told journalists recently that he is aware of Makarfi and other party bigwigs planning to dump the PDP if the legal dispute over the leadership of the party is decided in favour of Sheriff.
Gulak, who is a staunch member of the Sheriff group, said it will be most uncharitable for caretaker committee and his supporters to defect from the party.
“I have heard on good authority that Makarfi and his supporters are planning to move out of the PDP to form another party. I don’t expect them to do that. The PDP has given them a lot.
Senator Makarfi was governor on PDP platform for eight years and he was senator on the same platform for another eight years and to see him trying to move people out of PDP to another party no matter how small the number is, it will be unfortunate. History will judge him on the negative side, “he said.