PDP Convention: Last Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back

… Governors Stranded

The highly disputed November 15-16 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been aptly described by some stakeholders as the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

A faction of the now fragmented party proceeded with the two-day convention held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, despite multiple conflicting court orders halting it.

Rather than resolving existing divisions in the party, the convention has deepened the fault lines, creating more crises than the organisers attempted to solve.

The leadership crisis and deepening divisions have left some of the party’s governors stranded.

The worst hit are some first-term governors who cannot seek re-election in 2027 on the PDP platform, a platform on which they contested and won their first elections in 2023.

Thus, Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers) appear trapped in a marsh of uncertainties.

Attempts by Adeleke and Mutfwang to join the ruling APC were vehemently resisted by APC leaders in Osun and Plateau states.

Some of these governors are said to be desperately waiting to hitchhike the next available and viable platform for their 2027 re-election.

For these governors, the PDP is no longer an option, as the vehicle appears to have broken down irretrievably.

Apparently, having observed from a distance that the PDP sheep was floundering badly, no fewer than five of the party’s governors had jumped ship in the last seven months.

Citing the “uncontrollable storm” in the PDP, the five governors had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) one after another.

These governors, Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and, most recently, Agbu Kefas (Taraba), have, in the words of President Bola Tinubu, since “bailed out of PDP’s sinking ship”.

Political observers and concerned stakeholders have described the just-concluded PDP national convention and the aftermath as the “last straw that broke the camel’s back”.

The convention, which proceeded in spite of multiple conflicting court orders, has deepened divisions within the party.

The suspension of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and some of his allies has further complicated the factionalisation of the party.

The decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to boycott the convention has invalidated all the actions and decisions taken at the convention.

The “new national chairman”, Kabiru Turaki, and other party officers who emerged from the convention may not be recognised by INEC, and as such, may not be able to function in their new positions.

Two Federal High Courts in Abuja had restrained the leadership from holding the convention.

Justice James Omotosho was first to restrain the PDP from going ahead with the exercise, citing the failure of the party leadership to fulfil the required legal conditions for the convention.

Similarly, Justice Peter Lifu also restrained the party from conducting the exercise based on a suit filed by a former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido.

Lamido had sued the PDP for denying him a nomination form to contest for national chairman, a development that led to his disenfranchisement.

The PDP governors and a few stakeholders had, in October, picked Kabiru Turaki as the consensus candidate for the national chairman, a choice that was rubber-stamped by delegates at the convention.

The division in the party forced some PDP governors to stay away from the convention.

Those that stayed away were Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Agbu Kefas (Taraba) and Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers).