TWENTY days to the convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ibadan, the South-West leaders of the party have zoned the positions of national secretary and national auditor to Oyo and Ogun states respectively under the micro-zoning of the three national offices zoned to the area.
The micro-zoning of the offices was the main agenda of a zoom meeting Governor Seyi Makinde held with some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party over the choice of candidates for national offices, the Nigerian Tribune learnt, at the weekend.
The post of deputy national organising secretary was micro-zoned to Ekiti and Ondo states.
The meeting came in the midst of schism within PDP in the North following the choice by some North-West stakeholders of former Minister of Special duties, Taminu Turaki, SAN, as the consensus candidate for the position of national chairman, zoned to the North.
However, some PDP members led by the outgoing National Organising Secretary of the party, Honourable Umar Bature, opposed the choice of Turaki on the claim that there was no consultation before his name was “imposed” on the zone.
The crack within the party widened on Sunday, when stakeholders in the Jigawa State chapter of PDP rejected the former minister as the preferred candidate of the North for national chairman, currently held by Ambassador Ilya Umar Damagum.
The sources told the Nigerian Tribune that Makinde and the other PDP leaders agreed on the microzoning formula for the positions of national secretary, national auditor and deputy national organization secretary, following the proposal sent to the national secretariat by the three zones in the southern part of the country.
Nigerian Tribune had exclusively reported the proposal contained in a memo dated September 1 addressed to the office of PDP national chairman with copies sent to all members of the National Working Committees (NWC) of the party, and signed by the national vice chairman, South-East, Chief Ali Odefa; Engineer Ajisafe Kamorudeen (South-West national vice chairman and Chief Emmanuel Ogidi in his cpavity as the South-South national chairman.
It was gathered at the weekend that Makinde held the meeting with former deputy national chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George, another elder in the BoT of the party, Dr Olu Alabi; , national vice chairman, Barrister Kamorudeen Ajisafe and Alhaja Atinuke Oyawoye (BoT member from Osun State).
The governor was quoted to have said that two individuals have approached him that they are interested in becoming the national secretary of the PDP.
But the governor left the meeting which started 30 minutes behind noon schedule after the post of national secretary was conceded to him because he had to attend to another urgent matter.
However, others leaders resolved to microzone the post of national auditor to Ogun/Lagos, a which sources led to a prolonged but robust debate on if the position should go to Ogun State since the current deputy of national secretary zoned is occupied by Lagos.
According to the sources, the another view is that the post of national auditor should conceded to Ogun in appreciation of the tremendous support and contributions of Chief Adebutu and other PDP stalwarts to the PDP in the state over the years.
The meeting concluded with a resolution that the Ondo-Ekiti microzone should produce a consensus candidate for post of deputy national organising secretary for the convention.
The collection of the forms by aspirants is expected to end on September 3, based on the timetable and schedule of activities for the convention, while the deadline for the submission of the forms to the Directorate of Organisation/Mobilization is September 26, for processing and onward transmission to the screening committee.
S’East lawmakers threaten to boycott convention
The South-East Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House Representatives have threatened to boycott the forthcoming national convention of the party if woman leader position is removed from the zone, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.
Spokesperson of the zone in the House of Representatives, Honourable Ikenga-Imo Ugochinyere, made the position of his colleagues known in a statement, on Sunday, in Abuja.
Ugochinyere said that they will issue a disclaimer against the convention slated to hold Nov.15 and November 16 in Ibadan in two weeks if they confirmed that the party had zoned woman leader outside the zone.
He said that there is still time to remedy the situation before screening of aspirants if the insinuation making the rounds has any iota of truth.
Ugochinyere said that no elected lawmaker from South-East will remain in PDP if the impending insult is allowed to happen.
“We don’t want to see PDP suffer more setbacks, still, we will stick to our position at the Ibadan convention if, in the next few weeks, what we are hearing is confirmed.
“If the position of National woman leader is not ceded expressly to Imo and an Imo person is allowed to emerge, we will boycott the convention,” he said.
According to him, now that Governor Mbah has left for APC, that earlier arrangement of Enugu producing a woman leader no longer stands because Mbah’s woman leader nominee is also in APC.
The lawmaker explained that Governor Mbah’s defection has provided opportunity for the party to address the injustice of depriving Imo the woman leader position.
He alleged that an arrowhead within the party is the brain behind the plot to deprive Imo of its rightful woman leader slot.
“However, confirmed information is filtering in that some people are trying to move that woman leader position out of the South-East to the South-South.”
He warned that such a plot would provoke the entire South-East and alienate them from the Ibadan national convention and the PDP generally.
“This will compound the ongoing confusion in the PDP. If the remaining stakeholders from the South-East boycott the convention, that will bring the party into more crisis.”
Ugochinyere appealed to Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun to use his position as one of the leaders of PDP in Southern Nigeria to ensure that the position is given to the South-East and Imo.
“We don’t want to believe the information that one of the party’s leaders is plotting to cede the woman leader position to the South-South.
“It would be very insulting to the South-East if a position that is there is taken away and given to the South-South.”
Sule Lamido’s loyalists vow to resist Turaki’s emergence as chairman
Meanwhile, Jigawa chapter of the PDP has faulted the endorsement of Tanimu Turaki as consensus candidate for national chairman of the party, saying the decision is not against the interest of the North.
The PDP state chairman, Dr Babandi Ibrahim Gumel, who spoke on a Hausa language political program in Hausa at a private radio station monitored in Dutse, specifically said the decision “is against the interest of the North-West stakeholders.”
Gumel maintained that the Northern PDP caucus, during its meeting last Monday, resolved that the position of national chairman should be zoned to the North-West and, therefore, directed stakeholders in the zone to present a suitable candidate for the post.
“Based on this directive, we agreed to hold our meeting on Thursday at about 8:00pm under the chairmanship of Zamfara State Governor. But to our dismay on Wednesday, those who asked us to go and nominate from North-West went ahead to nominate the candidate of their choice.
“Our leader, Dr Sule Lamido, has not been notified of the North caucus meeting until an hour to the meeting (in the night).
“Among those nominated, none of them bought form to show his interest to be the chairman of the party. Our leader was suggested by chieftains of the party at the national level and by other national leaders as the right candidate, who can revive the party from its slumber.
“We were denied the opportunity to carry out the task assigned to us. So, we are waiting to see if our resolution will be considered, “ the chairman stated.
Babandi noted that, their main concern of the stakeholders is for PDP to be in the hands of somebody who can revive it and overcome its challenges.
“We have been in the party for the last 26 years. So, we don’t want anything that can destabilise the party,” he stated.
He vowed that he and other party faithful would do anything possible to make sure that the right person assumed leadership of the PDP in the overall interest of the unity and progress of the party and the country in general.
Come clean, ensure hitch-free, credible national convention – PDP charges INEC, Security agencies, judiciary, others
In the meantime, the PDP has charged all relevant government agencies, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies ensure a hitch-free convention of the party.
In a statement by the Convention Media and Publicity Sub-Committee, made available to journalists in Bauchi, the party urged the agencies to demonstrate patriotism and professionalism in discharging their duties before, during and after to convention.
According to the statement, there are growing fears among the party’s supporters that the All Progressives Congress (APC) might use judicial processes to either stop or postpone the convention.
When contacted, however, a former Bauchi House of Assembly member, Alhaji Ahmad Isa Tahir, described the allegations as baseless because PDP is already dead party, Nigerians are leaving the party.
The PDP statement read: “These fears are not unfounded. Going by the APC’s antecedents, the possibility of using inter- and intra-party destructive elements to thwart the PDP’s November convention cannot be ruled out.
“Covertly and overtly, these elements, operating within and outside the PDP, are willing to go to any extent to serve the selfish interests of their masters in the APC. They must be reminded that nemesis will catch up with them sooner or later.
“Given the vulnerability of the police to manipulation by those in power, there are genuine fears that they could be used to disperse or delay the forthcoming political assembly.
“In an ideal democracy such as Nigeria’s, opposition remains a vital force that checks the excesses of the ruling party and provides solutions. Where opposition is suppressed, the voices of the people are stifled.”
It called for unity, resilience, and loyalty in safeguarding the party’s legacy, adding:
“To PDP faithful, this is the time to unite more than ever before. Nothing should be allowed to derail the forthcoming national convention. We have laboured and nurtured Nigerian democracy to its present stage.
“These fears are certainly not unfounded and going by the APC’s antecedents, the possibility of using inter and intra-party destructive elements to thwart the PDP November-billed convention cannot be ruled out.
“While the PDP is placing confidence in the new INEC Chairman, it is and will continue to monitor and watch closely, the actions and or inactions of the electoral ombudsman, before, during and after elections.”
