TUESDAY, October 18, 2016 was touted as
the terminal date of the prolonged leadership crisis and the resultant
factionalisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was the day
the two factions at the centre agreed to meet and inaugurate the much
celebrated reconciliation committee which would be made up of equal
representatives from the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed
Makarfi’s factions. As a result, most Nigerians and concerned party
supporters looked forward to that day.
Their high hope was however dashed that
day as the inauguration of the reconciliation committee was aborted at
the last minute. While Senator Ahmed Makarfi supporters blamed the
abortion of the peace move on the failure of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to
attend the meeting and secure venue for the inauguration, Modu
Sheriff’s group said the problem has to do with some issues yet to be
settled.
It would be recalled that after the
failure of several moves to resolve the leadership crisis, the Sheriff
and Makarfi groups gave stakeholders fresh hope when they reached an
agreement to constitute a 28-man reconciliation committee. Most
observers, who swore before then that the groups could never agree,
heaved a sigh of relieve.
Part of the agreement was that the
National Caretaker Committee, led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, would
nominate 14 members of the committee while the embattled National
Chairman, Senator Sheriff’s group would also nominate 14 members of the
committee. With this arrangement, observers said their agreements would
be easily acceptable to all the interest groups in the party, a
development that would ultimately ease the reconciliation process.
But about a day to the October 18
inauguration date, The Nation noted some signals that all was not well.
Sources close to Makarfi confided that Sheriff suddenly rejected the
choice of PDP temporary secretariat, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, for the
inauguration.
It was alleged that he rather chose
Transcorp Hilton Hotel. This, according to our source was not acceptable
to Makarfi group which urged Sheriff to pay for the venue, a
proposition he also rejected out rightly.
While these were going on, it became
rather difficult to predict the likely outcome of the peace move. Though
some members argued then that the issue of venue was too minor to
truncate the exercise, by Monday night, it became clearer that the
inauguration of the reconciliation committee may not hold.
So, close observers were not
particularly surprised that Tuesday morning, when some PDP leaders,
national secretariat workers, some state chapter chairmen and
journalists arrived the venue, Transcorp Hilton Hotel for the
inauguration only to discover that no meeting room was booked for the
event.
Worried by the development, especially
because leaders of the Modu Sheriff camp were conspicuously absent, some
journalists reportedly put a call through to Sheriff’s Media aide, Hon
Inuwa Bwala, who not only confirmed that the group will not attend the
inauguration but was also quoted as saying pointedly that the group was
still studying the terms of reference of the reconciliation committee.
Since then, other fresh hurdles have
been raised, even as some insiders said the position of PDP governors
was enough signal that the proposed reconciliation committee may not see
the light of day, not to talk of its being able to fully reconcile the
warring factions.
It would be recalled that right from the
time the idea was first mooted, PDP governors openly opposed it. Dr
Kingsley Otti, a PDP member, said the governors are the major problem in
PDP today. “They are the real problem we have today. If they agree, the
reconciliation committee would be able to settle the leadership
problem. But you and I know that the governors are too selfish, too
power drunk to allow peace to reign. It is a pity, but this is what we
will continue to experience until we tackle the power drunk governors,”
he said.
Aside the rejection of the governors and
some others like them, many observers said the idea of a reconciliation
committee that would be equally representative seems to be the best
there is today to move the party forward. They agreed with Senator Ben
Obi’s assurance that the committee was committed to restoring the party
to its past glory.
He had said, “We are deeply committed in
making sure that the PDP comes back to its old self. That is what the
chairman has been busy doing in the last three, four weeks, meeting
various leaders across the country in search for peace.”
Obi added that, “The solution is very
simple: we must have a solution based on truth, sincerity, something
that can stand the test of time.”
It would be recalled that the leadership
crisis in PDP, which worsened after the party lost the presidential
election, has remained unresolved as the factions drag one another to
court at all levels.
Before the idea of constituting a
reconciliation committee was agreed on the party has recorded not less
than 15 such court cases on the leadership matter alone, with many of
the rulings described as rather contradictory to one other. Aware of the
damage the unending legal tussles would cause the party and the
politicians, most leaders of PDP easily welcomed the idea of a mutually
agreed reconciliation committee.
Dismissing allegation that the abortion
of the inauguration means the peace process has died, Chief Iwuanya
Udom, a PDP member from Ebonyi said: “The failure to inaugurate the
reconciliation committee this week is just a temporary setback. It
cannot be described as the total failure on the part of PDP. We all see
the Tuesday when Makarfi and Sheriff, after a historic meeting in
Maitama, Abuja, came out to issue a joint statement stating that they
had resolved to end their differences and work towards full
reconciliation of all aggrieved members of the party, as the beginning
of a new PDP. That is all that I know. As the spokesperson of Sheriff
told newsmen earlier, I think they are just studying some aspects of the
proposals. It is a matter of time before we will sort out the remaining
issues. Although the opposition may try to make a mountain out of a
molehill, you will agree with me that the reconciliation process has
taken a more tangible phase. That is what we should be discussing not
the minor disagreement over venue and who was supposed to pay for the
venue.
Following the stalemate, PDP leaders are
currently worried that the seemingly unending delay in the
reconciliation process may impact negatively on the party in the
forthcoming Ondo governorship election.
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