By Okey Maduforo
MakarfiWhile the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) battled with the leadership crisis that held it down in the last 14 months, it looked as if the party was completely down and out nationwide.
The story was the same for the party in Anambra State, where
chieftains and supporters of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the All Progressives Congress (APC), United Progressives Party (UPP) and Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) had literally written it off in the build-up to the November 18 governorship election in the state.
It however took the Supreme Court judgment of Wednesday, July 12, 2017, to end the rift within PDP in favour of the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee (NCC). With the development, the erstwhile Ali Modu Sheriff faction came to abrupt end.
Fixing a torn Umbrella
With the Apex Court Judgment, the hitherto disintegrated PDP in Anambra State saw reasons to commence fence-mending and realignments ahead of the state governorship election.
Shortly after the Supreme Court verdict, at the country home of Senator Ben Obi, the National Secretary of PDP caretaker committee, leading members of the party attended a meeting which lasted over three hours.
Though journalists were not allowed to cover proceedings at the meeting, it was learnt that the stakeholders had resolved to participate actively in the 2017 governorship election in the state.
Aside Senator Obi, those at the meeting included Anambra State former governor, Peter Obi, PDP ex-Chairman, Benji Udeozor of Chris Uba faction; elder brother to Nicholas Ukachukwu, Linus Ukachukwu; and former minister, Prof ABC Nwosu.
After the meeting, Senator Obi stated: “What we as a party is doing now is to reach out to all factions and shades of interest in our party. Everybody is desirous of coming back to our fold and I make bold to state that not just 2017 election in Anambra, but the bigger picture of 2019 general election where we shall ultimately exhibit peace, unity and oneness of our great party”.
Since the parley, several other meetings had been held, both in Abuja and at the South East with resolve by members on the need for internal democracy in the party.
The insistence on internal democracy may not be unconnected with the August 19, 2017 governorship primary of the party in Anambra State.
Ahead the exercise, members have stressed the need for loyal and grassroots party member as a candidate. This, they argue, would brighten the chances of the party in the election, adding however, that any manipulation in choosing the candidate, may again, work against them.
It would be recalled that the APGA victory in 2010 gubernatorial election that produced Governor Willie Obiano was partly as a result of internal crisis in the state wing of PDP.
APGA joins the unruly league
Now that APGA is having its own share of crisis, PDP may reap from the development if it plays its cards well, analysts suggest.
The ruling party in Anambra has in the last six months experienced series of litigation that as it stands, it is not clear who would conduct its primary for the November election.
On one hand of the crisis is Victor Oye, while Martin Agbaso is in the other hand.
At the moment, Agbaso appears to have the edge, with seeming approval of his leadership by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He is even said to have written the Commission, notifying it of the intention of his faction to hold the party’s primary election next month.
The fear is that if Agbaso maintains his edge over Oye, Obiano, who is counted on the Oye camp, may be denied the ticket of the party.
This not withstanding the pledge by Agbaso on his willingness to work with the governor.
There is also the greater fear that if APGA fails to put its house in order in the midst of its present confusion, it may not field any candidate in the November poll.
But even if the party eventually resolves its current crisis, there are already insinuations that it has caused so much damage to its reputation before the Anambra electorate. It would thus, require so much work for it to recover the enormous ground it had lost while its crisis lingered.
Weathering the APC challenge
For the PDP and its leadership in Anambra, the crisis in APGA, may perhaps be in their favour. But there is the challenge of APC to contend with. Already, the surge of aspirants for APC ticket in the November poll, makes it a party to beat, at least, on the surface.
What however seems the paradox in the APC is the obvious discord between the founding members and the new entrants on who becomes the candidate of the party.
The new members who came largely from the PDP are pulling all stunts to wrest the ticket from the old members in an encounter that promises to be crunchy.
At press time, virtually all the aspirants had paid for the expression of interest forms. But going by the antecedents of some of the aspirants and their backers, there are already fears that the primary may end up in protests and defections to other parties. Ego and personal interests are two factors that many fear would pose the major threats to the party’s chances even before the poll.
The insinuation is that by the time the latent fire in the party manifests, PDP may be the prime beneficiary, given the crisis in APGA. This is particularly as most members in the state’s APC chapter had started off as PDP members before finding themselves in their present platform. How PDP would manage the seeming opportunities alongside disaffection within its own fold, will determine how far it would go.
