From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Strong indications have emerged that the supremacy war among Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders is stalling efforts to rebuild the party.
The infighting among party bigwigs, which started prior to the 2023 general election, has continued to linger.
Daily Sun gathered that immediately after the dismissal of the petition against President Bola Tinubu by the Supreme Court, PDP leaders, including governors, who have their eyes on the 2027 polls, started scheming on how to take control of the party machinery to feather their own political nests.
Daily Sun gathered that the move to oust Samuel Anyanwu as PDP national secretary, by some leaders in the South East, is part of ongoing battle for the soul of the party ahead of the 2027 polls.
Also, the onslaught against Anyanwu, which is being reportedly led by the National Vice Chairman (South East), Ali Odefa, has also raised suspicion that there may be a crack in the G-5, led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, especially when both men bear allegiance to members of the group. Odefa is a loyalist of the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, while the embattled PDP national secretary is an ally of the FCT minister.
A former PDP presidential aspirant, Cosmas Ndukwe, said it was regrettable that leaders of the opposition party were engaged in a squabble on who would be the national chairman and national secretary of the party.
“The problem in the PDP is still widening by the day. They are arguing over who should be the national chairman and who would not be. The camp that will produce the national chairman and the camp will not produce the national chairman. The camp that will produce the secretary and if the secretary that left to contest in Imo State should stay or not stay,” he said.
Daily Sun gathered that the power tussle, which has polarised different organs of the party, has made it impossible for the PDP to hold a meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) in the last 16 months. The last meeting was on September 8, where it passed a confidence vote in Iyorchia Ayu.
According to the PDP constitution, the NEC, which is the second highest organ of the opposition party, after the national convention, is supposed to meet at least once in every three months.
Article 31(4) of the PDP constitution (as amended in 2017) stipulates that “the NEC shall meet at least once in every quarter at the instance of the national chairman or at the request of two-thirds of its membership, who shall notify the chairman at least seven days prior to the meeting; and an emergency meeting may be summoned by the national chairman having regard to all the circumstances of the agenda.
A top party source told Daily Sun that Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, whose duty it is to convene a NEC meeting is afraid to do so because of the likely outcome. “The acting chairman cannot even call for NEC, as provided in the party constitution, because he cannot predict how things will turn out if NEC meets,” the party chieftain said.
When contacted, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, denied any supremacy tussle among top party leaders. He explained it was not conducive for the opposition to hold NEC during the period of litigation over the outcome of the 2023 polls.
“The NWC is united and we are focused on issues. And we want to play the role of opposition, which we all need, because it is in the interest of democracy. The point is that when it (PDP constitution) says that NEC should meet at least once in three months, it is in the expectation that things will be normal in circumstances. If an election has taken place and the election has not been that contestable as it was, then there would not have been those provisions for court processes… At the appropriate time there will be a NEC meeting.”
He added that the reconciliation process in the party will continue, stating that committees will be set up soon, “because it is conducive now to begin to do a postmortem analysis.”