•Shema, Imoke penciled for job
•Jonathan, most credible for BoT chair, says Babatope
A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Ebenezer Babatope, has expressed support for President Goodluck Jonathan to take over as BoT Chairman, because only he is credible enough to fill the position, based on the party’s constitution.
However, PDP governors are torn between dissolving the National Working Committee (NWC), in which case its Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, would naturally go, or seek an amicable resolution of the crisis that has hit the party since its defeat at the ballot box.
Fayose versus Mu’azu
The conflict got to a head last week when Mu’azu and Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, traded blames over the roles each played in the defeat of Jonathan by All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
Fayose alleged on May 5 that he had evidence that Mu’azu connived with the APC to ensure the defeat of Jonathan.
Mu’azu fired back, ridiculing Fayose on his usual kind of “evidence” which cost Jonathan his job.
“Fayose said he has evidence that I, Mu’azu, worked for the APC. I hope it is not the kind of evidence he once said he had that Buhari was dying,” he retorted.
There is a groundswell of opinion among PDP governors and elders that Mua’zu and the NWC lack what it takes to pilot the party to victory.
Shema or Imoke
The governors have nominated two of their own to replace Mu’azu – Governors Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River).
PDP governors in the South East and South South are rooting for Imoke, but their Northern and South West counterparts want Shema.
Those in the South East and South South, whose arrowhead is Governor Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), want to determine who takes over from Mu’azu since the financial burden of running the party would naturally be on them as a result of the loss of the federal government.
The two regions are all PDP with the exception of Edo and Anambra States.
An impeccable source, who was privy to some of the discussions about the party, said the South East and South South governors have problem with Shema’s candidature.
They are not happy with him because he is from the same Katsina State as Buhari where the PDP got 6.7 per cent of the votes even though the state was in the PDP column at the time of the election.
Shema’s burden
“Many of the governors have problem with Shema since he is from the same state as Buhari. He could not deliver Katsina when he was in-charge. What can he then do with the towering height of Buhari and now that Katsina is in the APC?
“The South East and South South governors are kicking against him because the money to fund the party will be coming from them. They want to put their money where their mouth is. That is why they are rooting for Imoke,” the source confided.
Imoke’s disadvantages
But Imoke’s candidature is being rejected on many grounds by top PDP officials in the North and South West, including its governors.
Their grumble includes his friendship with outgoing Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who was also the Director General of APC Presidential Campaign Council.
In their calculation the PDP needs a forceful chairman to match the APC, a role they suspect Imoke may duck, especially if it will affect his personal relationship with Amaechi.
Imoke’s health status is also said to be a minus. He allegedly has been going to hospitals abroad since 2010 for treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
Those against him think that the task before PDP and the rigour of the office is not for someone who travels abroad regularly for medical treatment.
Governors against Mu’azu
While PDP governors have been scheming to oust the NWC, especially Mu’azu, the committee continues to be daring against Jonathan whom many refer to as a yesterday’s man, according to a member of the PDP.
NWC blames others for election defeat
The NWC disclosed at a press conference on May 4 that the hate campaign against Buhari by the Jonathan campaign team played a huge part in the PDP’s poor performance in the general election.
Jonathan played a prominent part in deciding members of his campaign team, which the NWC accused of being carried away by the campaign fund garnered by the committee led by Jerry Gana.
The party said: “We (NWC members) did not lead the party to failure. We were not involved in the campaigns and our advice was ignored. If we had handled the campaign, Mr president would have won the election.
“We cannot be held responsible when our advice was ignored.
“I can tell you from my own records that we generated billions. I think we generated more than N7 billion. We generated a lot of money.
“The first initial donation we made was half a billion to the presidential campaign funds even though we were not involved in raising funds for the presidential campaign.
“They generated campaign funds of up to N21 billion. The party was not involved in it and the party cannot account for it because we were not involved in the disbursement of that money.
“It was the Jerry Gana-led committee that handled it and nobody can question us for that.
“There is no governorship candidate that received less than N100 million from this NWC. The House of Assembly candidates across the country got money from us too. The amount such people got depended on their states.
“These monies were given to some ministers and some people to distribute to the states. In some states, it was the campaign coordinators that we gave and in others, we gave to the governors or directly to the candidates of the party.
“For those of us in the North, where the type of campaign that we generated made it impossible for our leaders in the North to garner support for our candidate (Jonathan) because of the hate campaign that was generated, we are not answerable for it.
“We cannot be held accountable for issues that were generated that worked against our candidate in the North. This is clear; all Nigerians knew what happened.”
But despite the bickering, PDP Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, told TheNiche that the crisis in the party has been resolved and that Mu’azu still remains the party’s chair.
“You are behind the news. We have resolved our challenges. We have no more problems. Everything has been resolved,” he said.