WHEN will the suffering of the Peoples Democratic Party, Lagos State chapter, abate? The political elephants involved in the battle for the soul of the party are hell bent in seeing their battle to a logical end, but an uphill task lies ahead of the party, especially its resolve to wrestle power from the Action Congress of Nigeria in the state in the 2015 general election.
Except the major players in the crisis that has lingered on for so long put aside their personal interests and forge a common front, the party’s ambition to unseat the Senator Bola Tinubu-led ACN may remain a mirage. Even though members of the party, at different fora, had insisted that all was well with the party, political observers know that it is not yet uhuru. Notable players in the party includes its former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George; former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Dr Abayomi Finih, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Dr Wahab Dosumu; former deputy governor of Lagos State, Chief Kofoworola Bucknor Akerele, to mention a few.
The crisis rocking the party dated back to 2006, shortly after the assassination of its governorship candidate, Chief Funso Williams, in the build up to the 2007 general election. Members of the party were said to be divided over who should step into the shoes of Williams before they later settled for Senator Obanikoro. The party lost the election to the ACN candidate, the incumbent governor of the state, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN).
While the party was still nursing the injury of its defeat by the ACN, its chieftain and foremost leader, Chief Bode George, was arrested and convicted of financial impropriety while serving as the Board Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority. His conviction dealt a severe blow to the party, as it now became a sheep without a shepherd. This led to the emergence of various factions, which some notable members prefer to refer to as caucuses.
With the release of George from prison, political pundits thought the end had come to the leadership tussle rocking the party but they were proved wrong, as his release, rather than ending the crisis, amplified it. Members of the party were divided along interest lines. While some aligned with George, others pitched their tents with Senator Ogunlewe, Dr Finih, Dr Ade Dosumu, Senator Obanikoro and Chief Bucknor-Akerele.
Noting the danger inherent in the division among the rank and file of the party in the state, the PDP National Working Committee waded into the matter, hoping to proffer lasting solution and map out a strategy to conquer the state in 2011. But this was not to be. The emergence of Dosumu as the candidate of the party in 2011 further rubbed salt in the injury of some notable members of the party, who then saw Chief George as an impositor. But George insisted that Dosumu was a product of the primary conducted by the party. In one of the interviews he granted, he said “But you people (press) covered the primaries. It is like saying that we imposed President Jonathan, did you not watch the primaries live? Was the Lagos State primary done in secret like in the other parties? So, how could you say we imposed? I was not even there, I was in prison and the people decided.’’
Describing himself as the symbol of the party in the state, Chief George said other people that were parading themselves as leaders of the party lacked honesty of purpose, commitment and loyalty, adding: “They don’t even understand these two words: loyalty and commitment. That is why they are junketing. They think they can just come through the back door and hit the rooftop; it does not work that way.’’
In the build up to the state congress, the PDP constituted a reconciliatory committee led by Senator Obanikoro with the aim of reconciling the aggrieved members prior to the conduct of the congresses. The group met with notable members of the party but the meeting did not yield any fruitful result, as some factions of the party rejected the candidacy of Honourable Tunji Shelle as the state chairman of the party.
Chief Ogunlewe faulted the conduct of the primary, adding that members people should be allowed to elect their own leader. The issue had lingered on for long and, according to him, it was high time the national leadership of the party intervened.
On why peace seemed to have eluded the party, he submitted, “you need a lot of goodwill for people to believe in you. The moment you start practising exclusion, you will end up laying the foundation for failure. Everybody must be accommodated, everybody must feel important.
“We told the state leadership of the party to let us know which of the zones is expected to present the positions to be contested for. We also made it clear that on no account should any of the zones be excluded, on no account should political powers be concentrated in one zone. As a party, we need to rotate the state leadership of the party because it is a constitutional matter; both the constitution of the party and constitution of the nation.’’
Disturbed by this development, a delegation from the leadership of the party, led by Chief Segun Oni and Senator Iyiola Omisore, came to Lagos to broker peace and let the members see why they must work together as a team and ensure the success of the party in subsequent elections. While some members were present at the meeting, others were absent, thereby sending a wrong signal.
Also, a party delegation led by Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun visited Chief Bode George and other notable members of the party, with the sole aim of restoring normalcy back to the party and positioning it for the local government election, but to no avail. The ACN capitalised on the division among the members of the PDP to further confirm its supremacy, even though some of its representatives were accused of non-performance.
But the PDP spokesperson, Taofik Gani, said it was going to be a different ball game in 2015, arguing that there was no faction within the party but caucuses, which, to him, was not peculiar to the PDP. He said the state executive committee put in place a reconciliatory committee aimed at reconciling aggrieved members but, rather than accepting the olive branch, some members headed to court.
With the present development, coupled with the issue of litigation, can the party challenge the dominance of the ACN in 2015? Time will tell.
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