PDP In Search of New Leadership …. Saraki Rebuffs Party

Ganiyu Obaaro

Following its disastrous outing in the just concluded 2023 general elections, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has been in quandary.

This is because, faced with electoral defeat, especially at the Presidential Election held in March this year, the party’s centre couldn’t hold.

Like a pack of cards flying in different directions, the once-governing party has found it difficult to put its house in order. The PDP is still grappling with how to find a new National Chairman to refocus it and set it on the path of electoral victories in years to come.

The PDP, which was founded in 1998, ruled the country for 16 years.

Its first presidential candidate and former Nigeria’s President, was Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo. From its first democratically elected president, Obasanjo (1999-2007); through Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015), the party soon became a behemoth that ruled the country with pride and candour.

However, the party’s fortunes dipped, following its defeat to the All Progressives Congress, APC, led by its Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015.

Buhari and his party won and retained power again in 2017, amassing over 12 million votes. Again, luck ran against them in the last (2023) elections, as they lost the Presidential positions, and also had poor showings in other elections, such as governorship and National Assembly, to the ruling party, APC.

The APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the presidential election with 8, 794, 726 votes as against Atiku’s 6,984,250 votes. Dr Peter Obi, who also contested the election on the platform of the Labour Party, LP, however came a distant third.

The party’s presidential candidate in the last two presidential elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has lost his ambition to rule the country, following his defeats.

Indeed, PDP had waded through a number of crises in its leadership of the country over the years.

So, the current one facing them is not new at all to any discernible observer.

In fact, the national chairmanship position of the party has always attracted interests and bedevilled by rancour.

For example, whereas, Dr Ahmadu Ali successfully held sway as its chairman, with little distractions, those who came after him, including Chief Audu Ogbeh, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and others, faced peculiar challenges, leading to their ouster.

The case of the immediate past National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who was ousted by a lower court in Makurdi, Benue state capital, was an interesting scenario.

His position, which he refused to vacate in spite of pressures from groups, such as the G5 Governors and others, tore the party apart.

The party is yet to recover from this month after its loss.

Led by the now ex-governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyelsom Wike, the group, which consisted of four others: governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo); Samuel Ortom,(Benue); Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyin, Enugu, were resute that Ayu must resign his position.

They hinged their argument on the party’s constitution, which says, both the presidential candidate and its national chairman should be zoned to between the north and the south, respectively.

But, in this case, Ayu, from Benue, (North central and Atiku, from Adamawa (North east), contravened the rule.

And, the group and other elements in the party, reasoned that this situation must not stand.

Infact, before Atiku won his party’s ticket, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Obasanjo’s former spokesman, had warned the PDP not to field a northern candidate as its Presidential candidate.

However, they ignored him and lost, partly due to this or more reasons.

Close observers say that Atiku lost for some other reasons.

They included, chronic divisions in the party; lack of effective collaboration; and Atiku, a veteran in the contest, was discouraging for them.

All these, they argued forced Dr Peter Obi to leave the party.

Obi later joined Labour party as its Presidential candidate.

Also, piqued by these, Dr Rabiu Kwankwanso, a former APC, PDP stallwart, an ex-Kano state Governor left to form the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP.

Ofcourse, both Obi and Kwankwaso made credible showings in the elections winning give it a governorship and National Assembly seats.

Since Ayu’s exit, Ambassador Iliya U. Damagun, who had occupied the seat as the interim national chairman, things have not been smooth, it was learnt.

Again, Tinubu was said to have exploited the cracks in the PDP to his advantage.

Tinubu and his party’s series of meetings and agreements reached with the G5 Governors and other aggrieved party men, it was gathered, might have worked in his favour, thus enabling him to win the presidential election.

Although, the case is being disputed at the Presidential Election Tribunal, by the defeated parties, including the PDP and LP, Tinubu has since taken over from Buhari as the President.

Already, Wike and some PDP bigwigs are being proposed as ministers in Tinubu’s government, barring any last-minute changes that may occur from the president.

One of the aggrieved party men, and former Ekiti state Governor, had distanced himself from Atiku on certain ground.

Fayose, said he decided to distance himself from. The PDP because he had asked Atiku whether or not he would spend one term in office if elected as the President.

He alleged that he became disappointed when Atiku was non-committal.

He said, “I asked him (Atiku), whether he would spend one time or two, but he did not give me any specific answer. So, I kept away from him.”

Now, desperate to find a new leader to lead it, PDP    is said to be looking in the direction of Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

The former Senate President, (2015-2019), is believed by the party as possessing the needed magic wand to reform the dying party.

Saraki, ex-Kwara state Governor (2003-2011), and former Atiku’s campaign Director General, is believed by the party to be a unifier, bridge builder and well respected by statesmen like Gen Ibrahim Babangida, retd., and Jonathan, for example.

Saraki is said to be rebuffing the party, arguing that the case instituted by Atiku is still pending at the Tribunal and would not want to make any pronouncement that would be subjudicial.

So far, Saraki is said to be in a hide-and- seek game with his party, which has haunted him in his Ilorin, Lagos and Abuja’ homes, to no avail.

For Saraki, there is no need to worry him now about taking over the challenging role expected of him.

As it is currently, the PDP will still have to traverse a dark, long tunnel, to find the right National Chairman and other executive members to lead and reposition it for the next elections.