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Race for PDP scribe heats up Southwest

Published by Guardian on Mon, 12 Mar 2012


AHEAD of the March 24 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the South West has raised the ante of internal scheming to pick candidates for the National Secretary, one of positions zoned to the geo-political zone. The zone will also produce the National Auditor.Chieftains of the party in the Southwest are preoccupied with which state that will produce the candidates for the two positions among the aspirants in the six states in the Southwest.After the fortunes of the party in the zone have nosedived when the party lost almost all elective posts to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 elections, it has faced internal wrangling of members. The situation according to some members 'has not helped the party to play a virile opposition to the ACN that seems bent on uprooting the remains of the PDP in the South West.'The task before the party is to close ranks and pick out credible candidates that will do justice to the stature of the party, 'despite our loss in the last elections.' To many PDP chieftains, the position of the National Secretary of the party is important enough to have an impact in the party's effort to reposition itself in the zone and reclaim its old glory.A chieftain of the party at the weekend said that the Southwest needs somebody that will play a more all-inclusive fatherly role, somebody who can reunite aggrieved members, 'and not somebody who will occupy the office at the national secretariat to oppress members.'According to the source, 'our party is at its lowest ebb in the Southwest now, but we are fortunate that the office of the National Secretary has been zoned to us. It now behooves us to present our best candidates to the party's national caucus. We need somebody that will not only do us proud but also use that office to revive the party in the zone, somebody with the charisma and political sagacity to overhaul the reconciliation machinery and lift the party.'The issue of a more acceptable leader had brought to question the present leadership of the PDP. The Southwest occupies the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman and National Legal Adviser. Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo chairs the BoT while Chie Wole Oke, from Ekiti State, holds the position of the National Legal Adviser. He is also one of the aspirants for the position of the National Secretary.In the meantime, it is believed that Obasanjo seems to have lost grip of the party in the zone. Apart form the fact that some party faithful have faulted some of his decisions, even his close allies like his former spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe have become his critics. The events in Ogun State has also not done the image of Obasanjo any good and according to a PDP source, 'if what is going on presently in Ogun PDP could be used to adjudge the role of Obasanjo in the party, then the party needs another central figure if it desires to be relevant in the zone.'However, some chieftains of the party are glad that Obasanjo has agreed not to back any aspirant but opted to play a fatherly role. Some people however sneer at the suggestion, saying that Obasanjo is aware that he has no choice because the decision to 'anoint' a candidate rests on the national caucus and the presidency. It was noted that as president and the national leader of the party, Obasanjo did not allow anyone to chose those he wanted as national officers and that privilege and power now resides with President Goodluck Jonathan.Meanwhile, in spite of the campaigns, The Guardian learnt that though it is not going to be the responsibility of the zone to elect the candidate for that office because other zones would have a say on who emerges as the national secretary. The zone is expected to screen the long list of aspirants and present three names to the national caucus. At the end of the day, the Southwest will 'agree with whoever the caucus picks, because the National Secretary will not work for the zone but for the party at the national level.'More than 13 aspirants from the Southwest are jostling to grab the position of national secretary. It is uncertain if all of them will purchase the form or submit it before the deadline. According to the PDP guidelines, national officers must submit nomination forms 14 days before the national convection. It is believed that so far, about five aspirants have submitted their forms with a refundable fee of N500,000. Some of those who have They include Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Chief Dapo Sarumi, Prof Taoheed Adedoja, Chief Wole Oke, Oladimeji Fabiyi, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Chief Owolabi Salis, Femi Pedro former deputy governor of Lagos State, and Olu Ola-ojo, Chairman of Ekiti State PDP.It is believed that the decision on who emerges for the position rests with President Goodluck Jonathan and Obasanjo, the leader of the party from the zone. Other caucuses that will play a role in the emergence of the National Secretary include the governors, the National Assembly caucuses and other national leaders of the party.Some of the aspirants include, Babatope (Osun), Adedoja and Joshua Faniran (Oyo), Chief Tunde Daramola, Salis, Sarumi, Pedro (Lagos), and Chief Wole Oke (Ondo).In Ekiti, which has about seven aspirants are Olu-Ojo, Adeniran, Ambassador Dare Bejide, Chief Ropo Adesanya, Senator Bode Olowoporoku and Chief Dele Okeya.Explaining the configuration of the contests, Olu-Ojo said that in the Southwest, there is the Lagos/Ogun axis, Oyo/Osun axis and the Ondo/Ekiti axis. Two of the three blocs have held the position of the National Vice Chairman at different times leaving out the Ondo/Ekiti axis. The two states alternate offices; one will take the office while the other will take the ex-officio. Currently Ondo has the National Legal Adviser, therefore Ekiti should hold the next national office.'According to Olu-Ojo, 'I don't have to be the candidate but I will work to ensure that Ekiti produces the next National Secretary.'However, Olu-Ojo harps on the qualities and agenda of the next National Secretary. He said, On why he wants to be national secretary, Olu-Ojo said: 'Some people come into politics for what they want to become or what they want to get. And that is why we see a lot of presidential aspirants from parties that do not have official address.'But majority of the members of any party are the masses, whose purpose of joining a party is to get something to eat or add to what they have been feeding on. During electioneering campaigns, some of our members died in accidents, some were maimed. There must be a fund to create wealth for the party and the members. The welfare of the members must be given a priority.'Another issue is discipline. The constitution allows politicians to cross carpet without resigning the position they attained through a party. But a situation where somebody used a party to get elected into office only for him to dump that party should be discouraged; it does not allow for party discipline.'A situation where after a little disagreement people dump a party is not good for party democracy. Party supremacy must be enforced and when a party at the national level takes a stand on a position, its members at all levels should not ignore it.'Adeniran served the nation in various capacities including being a Minister of Education. Bejide was a former Secretary to the Ekiti State government. Adeniran was also headed the defunct Mass Mobilisation for Social and Economic Justice and Self-Reliance (MAMSER). He led the team that organised the PDP national convention to elect PDP's presidential candidate last year. He played an active part in the political agenda that led to the political engineering that culminated in the adoption of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the fairest presidential election in 1993.A group, the National Initiative Project (NIP) has shown support for Adeniran aspiration, citing his 'clinical handling of the PDP national congress held in Abuja last year.'After a two-day meeting in Abuja, the groups National Chairman, Shehu Jubril and National Secretary, Dr. Olu Omole, said that their position was supported by what they described as the former minister's integrity, experience, and proven records as an administrator.But some PDP members in Ondo have dismissed the logics that it is the turn of Ekiti to produce the next national officer if the office in the Ondo/Ekiti axis. They argue that the axis remains one entity and what should be an issue is for them to present a candidate that will be acceptable to the party's national caucus. They believed that Oke, the national legal adviser is in good stead to be the next National Secretary having served the national secretariat without any blemish.While the Ondo/Ekiti axis is playing their brand of politics, other contestants in the other states are pushing to grab the position. For example, there are strong forces within the party backing the aspiration of former minister of transport Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who is regarded as an organiser, administrator and astute politician. A former member of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), in the second republic, he is one of the followers of the late political sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the progressives in the PDP see him turning things round in the party.Daramola was the leader of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) and later the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was member, planning and strategic committee of the Southwest PDP; delegate to PDP national convention in 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2009 and secretary to the Yar'Adua/Jonathan campaign organisation in Lagos. He was the chairman of the screening panel for aspirants to the Enugu State House of Assembly; member, Mobilisation Committee for Jonathan/Sambo presidential convention in January 2011 and secretary of the screening panel for rerun primary election of aspirants to the Senate and House of Representatives for Kwara Central in Kwara State. He also was Secretary of Lagos PDP. On his ambition, he said: 'We need a vibrant political leadership. We shall work to return the party to its original foundation in terms of the aims and objectives of the founding fathers. The party must envisage touching the lives of ordinary Nigerians, regardless of party affiliations.
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