By Emeka Alex Duru
If declaration of good faith and pledge of transparency are all that are required to assess the sincerity of a political party in arriving at a desired objective, give it, then, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). From inception in 1998, PDP has not been found wanting in advertising its intention at giving Nigerians a platform for attainment of enduring democracy.
The problem, however, is that at the point of delivery, when it matters most, it is usually another story for the organisation that prides itself as the largest political party in black Africa. On such occasions, members speak in discordant tones, the Umbrella, its logo, literally gets torn and its enticing motto – power to the people – gets compromised or totally jettisoned. And the hawks, usually in its fold, take over.
This is the challenge facing the PDP as its delegates converge in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday, October 6, for its 2019 presidential primary. The party is not unaware of the incidence of skepticism or even cynicism that trails its preparedness for and management of major outings. It thus, seems to have learnt its lessons and appears ready to put the right leg forward ahead of the Port Harcourt Convention. Or so it seems!
The leadership has in this regard, assured the members that the convention will be transparent and successful.
National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, who gave the assurance, said the party had put in place strategies to carry all the aspirants along in the processes of the convention.
He said; “We are going to hold a successful convention. Arrangements have been made in such that each presidential aspirant will nominate two people to be members of the accreditation Committee for we are very concerned about the process of the convention.
“Also each of the aspirants will nominate two people to be part of the electoral committee. The essence of these is to showcase the transparency and the openness of the process. As a party we are very concerned about the process of the national convention primary.
“We are doing everything possible to carry everybody along. Unlike where the presidential aspirants only nominate agents, they will be part of the process to nominate members of the accreditation and electoral committee.”
He added that PDP would also publish names of all the delegates and make same available to all Presidential aspirants before the convention.
Ologbondiyan said the openness of the process was also to show that the party leadership had no interest on any of the aspirants but to allow the people to elect a winning candidate.
Put into practice, that would be what it would entail to assure party chieftains and members of the public that PDP has returned to the original idea of its founding fathers.
A party and its ideals
At its formation on July 29, 1998, the facilitators of PDP were guided by far reaching visions. They had dreamed of a party that would put the Nigerian nation on a new phase of political engineering.
Part of their intention was to put in place a political platform that would ensure a “re-creation of civil political institutions, reconciliation of Nigeria, rekindling of the spirit of unity and brotherhood in the polity and the revitalization of powers of the people to build a prosperous industrial democracy”. Propelled by these lofty ideals, the facilitators had aimed at bringing together all patriotic and like-minded Nigerians into a single formidable party capable of renewing and refocusing the loyalties and productive energies of the nation to work for national reconciliation, economic and social reconstruction, respect for human rights and rule of law and to restructure the country in the true spirit of federalism.
Their long term aspiration was to erect a frame work that would ensure a just and equitable distribution of power, resources, wealth and opportunities to conform with the principles of power shift and power sharing, rotation of key political offices and equitable devolution of powers to zones, states and local governments so as to create socio-political conditions conducive to national unity and to defend the sanctity of electoral democracy.
The encompassing principles of the party were adequately complemented by an embracing motto – Justice, Unity and Progress, while the slogan of the party, instructively acceded “power to the people”. To add up, the PDP had in its fold a generous spread of the nation’s first rate politicians. It also appropriated to itself the tag of the largest party in black Africa. In a way, its claim of greatness had paid off as it had garnered many electoral victories, though, often questionable in some cases.
Darkness falls
But side by side its victories at the polls, the party, in irony of sorts, got enmeshed in crises, most of which were traced to the contradictions by its successive leadership especially in the conduct of its affairs.
By 2015, Nigerians had had enough of the untoward activities of the PDP. In the general elections of the year, the party was decisively routed by the then fledgling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dazed by the unexpected blow from APC and faced with the unenviable choice of playing the role of the opposition in the odious winner-takes-all Nigerian system, PDP was in disarray. Consequently, some of its chieftains, not prepared for the new under-dog status of the party, left for the APC with their supporters.
The party had even at a time, been torn into two factions, with former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi leading one, and erstwhile Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, at the other end.
It took the Supreme Court verdict of Wednesday, July 12, 2017, authenticating the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the party, for PDP to bounce back to reckoning. On its return from the abyss, the party had admitted wronging Nigerians during its days in power and pleaded for another opportunity to make amends.
Eyes on the Port Harcourt Convention
The Port Harcourt Convention, perhaps, provides grounds for PDP to prove to Nigerians how far it has learnt from its past mistakes. It will also go a long way in showing how far the party would go in 2019 elections.
Properly managed, the exercise will give a jolt to the APC that seems undecided on what to do with power, nearly four years after coming to office. It will also afford the voters the chance of dreaming for a credible alternative in 2019.
To be fair to the PDP, it parades a pleasant array of presidential aspirants that can fly the flag of the party any day. They include, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna governor, Makarfi, former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, current Sokoto State governor, Waziri Tambuwal, his Gombe counterpart, Ibrahim Dankwambo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his predecessor, David Mark, former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, former Plateau governor, Jonah Jang.
Each, incidentally comes along with his crowd and clout. Atiku, for example, has made his mark, having been Vice President, for eight years. He has also been aspiring for the high office, since 1993, when he made his debut on the platform of the then Social Democratic Party, during the ill-fated General Ibrahim Babangida political transition.
Coming a close third to such tested hands as MKO Abiola, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku left no doubts that he had his eyes primed for the office. And he has not let go, ever since.
In 2014 presidential primary of the APC, he contested against Buhari but lost. Returning to PDP, Atiku, is still bent on the agenda.
The same story of actualizing the ambition which he could not do under APC, goes for Kwankwaso. Seen as a thorough bred grassroots politician, especially in his Kano and northern backyard, he considers himself a good candidate.
For Tambuwal who has had a good outing as Speaker of House of Representatives and currently governor of Sokoto State, the urge for a higher office, is potent. He particularly comes to the table with the advantage of age, good education and absence of any known political baggage.
The craving for the high office, may also explain the agenda of Saraki, who has literally seen it all, coming along as Kwara State governor, two-time senator which he caps as president of the senate.
Makarfi, flaunts his celebrated good work as Kaduna governor and his deft political moves in salvaging PDP when it was almost torn apart by the Sheriff factor in the heady days of the party, as indicative of his ability to fly its flag at the elections. Other aspirants have their strong points in seeking the office.
Thus, with the stars on parade in PDP, the national convention, promises to be exciting. Analysts have in fact, predicted that the survival of the PDP and how far it may go in the build-up to the 2019 general elections, depend a lot on how far its handlers manage the Saturday exercise.