When in 2013 5 governors of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, walked out on former president Goodluck Ebele Johnathan, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP assured him that, with or without the governors that left and decamped to form the ‘New PDP’, he will win the 2015 presidential election. Today, we know the result of that election and the aftermath of the fate of the PDP in the subsequent elections across the States in Nigeria.
The APC was formed on February 6, 2013 by the merger of three opposition political parties, the ACN, CPN and ANPP. In November 2013, five serving Governors from the governing PDP defected to the APC: Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Rabiu Kwankwaso of kano State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State.
While it had been previously reported that Governors Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Sule Lamido of Jigawa State were set to defect from the People’s Democratic Party to the APC; however, both ended up remaining with the People’s Democratic Party.
Amid the governors’ defections, nearly 50 federal legislators, including Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, joined the party, adding to the legislators in the APC as a result of the prior merger of the smaller opposition parties.
Atiku Abubakar, Sokoto State governor, Tambuwal, Senator Saraki, Sule Lamido and Babangida Aliyu had since defected from the APC back to the PDP.
Governor Nyesom Wike is the leading PDP governor that rallied to provide support to former president Johnathan ahead of the 2015 elections. Wike doggedly financed the PDP party Secretariat and worked hard to bring back defected members of the PDP from the APC. These members included Saraki, Wammako, Tambuwal, Atiku, Lamido and others.
While some members immigrated to Dubai and other Asian countries, Wike laboured to nourish and sustain the PDP.
We are all familiar with the issue of vice presidential running mate which Atiku gave to Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, this led to Wike’s grouse with Atiku Abubakar. Although some political analysts say Wike is suffering from a false sense of entitlement; these same people refuse to acknowledge the fact that the present composition of the PDP, where most party positions are held by members from the North does not augur well for the party’s constitution.
Wike has demanded for the resignation of Senator Iyorchia Ayu to make way for a chairman from the South, due to the fact that the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is from the North,; Ayu is from the North. A PDP chairman from the South will balance the skewed distribution of offices that is in favour of Northern members.
Penultimate last week, Wike held a peace-building, reconciliation meeting with the PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in London. The governors of Abia, Oyo and Benue – Ikpeazu, Makinde and Ortom were at the meeting. Wike presented his demands to Atiku, who promised to get back to him on his demands. Atiku, at the venue of that meeting with Wike, called on his supporters to cease fire on making inflammatory statements against Wike.
It is important to note that Atiku Abubakar has deliberately refrained from directly attacking Wike. Now, that is a very clever, diplomatic way to manage the crisis between himself and Wike. And that does not mean he is not working underground to bypass Wike to take control of Rivers State from him, especially with the INEC about to blow the whistle on political campaign to start on September 28, 2022.