Leon Usigbe reports the recent reunion of some members of the defunct Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) against the background of the lukewarm attitude of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, towards the resuscitation of the movement.ELEMENTS of the defunct Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) gathered in Abuja recently in what they termed a reunion. The meeting came at the sidelines of the yearly memorial lecture for the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, founder of the movement and one time presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). But the participants took advantage of the presence of a large gathering of the apostles of the former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters to renew their comradeship and possibly chart an exploratory way forward on the 2015 general election.Significantly, most of the people who were present at the meeting at the Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja were also members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has continued to insist that it is not time yet to throw the doors open for the 2015 politics. For the PDM members, this is like music to the ear. They seem to think that they need a head start on the 2015 politics if they must be relevant in the national scheme of things. Towards the objective of marching ahead in spite of the PDP's expressed stance, the PDM has raised a National Steering Committee made up of Honourable Bode Ajewole, Mr Godie Ikechi, Senator Abubakar Mahdi, Murtala Shehu Yar'adua, Dr Etim Amba, Alhaji A. A. Matawallen Hadeija, Chief Ejiofor Onyia, Honourable Dubem Onyia, Chief (Mrs) Titi Ajanaku, Alhaji Bashiru Yusuf Ibrahim, Prince Tonye Princewill and Otunba Olupounle Ebo.The communiqu issued after the Abuja meeting was silent on the political discussions as it merely spoke of the meeting, as a reunion/rejuvenation. Signed by the secretary of the committee, Mr Godie Ikechi, it stated that thepurpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for the reunion of old members of the movement and also bring on-board new members. It conceded that the meetingpresented a roadmap for its immediate future activities, among which is a proposed national summit on 'The State of the Nation'scheduled to hold in the last quarter of 2012. It also revealed that the movement had resolved to rekindle, among its members, the spirit of national unity and ensure promotion of peace and good governance.The communiqu described the PDM as a national 'consciousness movement,'pioneered by late General Yar'adua for the promotion of core ideals of democracy; sustenance of and support for peaceful co-existence among the diverse groups in the country; bridge building among the diverse segments of the country; promotion of good governance and sustainable development of Nigeria. The document similarly disclosed that goodwill messages were presented by eminent members of the movement from all the geo-political zones, while tributeswere paid to the former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters,for 'the supreme sacrifice he made in the furtherance of unity and democracy in Nigeria as well as to other departed leaders of the movement.' Furthermore, it stated that the meeting was also meant to give a tour of the uncompleted bridge at the lawn of Yar'Adua Centre 'as a testimony to the work that must be done to complete the hanging bridge by reuniting Nigeria and bringing democracy and good governance back to the country.'Beyond the facade of a reunion, there are suggestions that the elements of the PDM in the PDP, who consider themselves as presently sidelined in the ruling party despite the fact that some of them are founding members of the arty, are determined to be major players in the coming political dispensation. Therefore, if this set of people cannot get the opportunity within the PDP, they must be prepared to work towards an alternative platform to realise their objective. However, this disposition appears not to have gone down well with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, seen to have inherited the mantle of leadership of the PDM since the demise of the Tafidan Katsina. Atiku, who has had a chequered political history since the commencement of the present republic, is thought to be staunchly opposed to the idea of a resuscitated PDM, taking into consideration his experience in the recent past where new alliances he attempted to forge outside the PDP fell flat on his face. Atiku left the PDP at the height of his disagreement with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and joined the Action Congress (AC) before trying to create a mega party that was designed to dislodge the PDP during the 2007 general election. All these never materialised. The former vice president blamed his failure in this respect on betrayals from trusted allies. Consequently, the measure of scepticism with which he holds the present move to revive his former political platform, having been reabsorbed in the PDP, is clearly understandable. The former vice president went through some near impossible hurdles to return to the PDP and possibly believes that it would be foolhardy to start all over again, even when positive results are not guaranteed in the yet-to-crystallise PDM. Atiku's road back to the PDP was long and tortuous. It started with his associates endorsing his return following which a committee was set up to ensure a smooth movement of his entire group into the PDP, both at the centre and the states. He justified his return to the PDP at the time by saying that the national interest was more important than his individual interest. He had observed that the country was faced with a multiplicity of challenges, such as bloody inter-communal and ethnic violence, deepening economic crisis, collapse of infrastructure and the risk involved in unravelling the amnesty in the Niger Delta and 'therefore, it would be irresponsible for me to continue to engage in a fruitless effort to convince other political leaders that Nigeria is more important than our individual ambitions.'He argued that his return to the PDP became even more urgent with the coming of an acting president who had publicly committed himself to ensuring a more democratic andtransparentpolity, noting that his return to the PDP would help ensure a democratic and people-oriented PDP. Atiku had stressed that since Nigeria was greater than any individual ambition and aspiration, he would work tirelessly to ensure that the PDP remained a democratic party where the votes of its members actually counted. In spite of this burning desire to belong to the party and the new-found fire for its ideals, forces within the ruling party, particularly from his North-East geo-political zone, frustrated Atiku's admittance by laying one obstacle after the other on his path. Initially, he was directed to go back to his ward to register at the party chapter at that level before his application could be considered. When he satisfied that requirement, he was still not accepted as he was deemed not to have approached the party in the proper manner. A despondent Atiku threatened court action against the PDP for insisting that he must get a waiver to make up for his absence from the PDP for at least two consecutive years and in order to be eligible to contest any elective position in the party. The former vice president thought he did not need any waiver since the constitution of the party guaranteed his right to contest the election. Atiku had his way and was eventually able to run for the 2011 presidential primary which he lost to President Goodluck Jonathan. But he had been brutalised not just by his political enemies, but also close associates, who for one reason or the other, turned their backs on him. Chief Tony Anenih, former chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), was one of Atiku's close allies in the PDM who was also present at the reunion meeting. However, the Iyasele of Esanland had a different agenda from the general direction of the participants in the sense that he did not only canvass against a revival of the PDM, but also argued for the unity of the PDP.While he joined in eulogising General Yar'Adua at the occasion, Atiku admonished the PDP members in the new PDM that there could only be one indivisible PDP and those thinking of being members of a new PDM within the PDP would do themselves good to banish the thought. Anenih's position seems to rhyme with that of Atiku, except that the Turaki Adamawa, rather than being worried over the unity of the PDP, appears to be avoiding a repeat of the humbling he has suffered from his associates. No wonder he kept away from the reunion and will possibly prevent its actualisation, as observed by some analysts.
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