There is apprehension within the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the prospect of more governors dumping the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the impact that would have on the party’s chances of winning the 2023 general elections.
Feelers from the fold of the main opposition party indicate a mixture of worry and anger over how its governors have increasingly become easy prey for the APC, a situation which is likely to weaken the party ahead of the general election.
However, other more optimistic party chieftains believe that the defections would not stop the PDP from winning a free and fair election because, in their reckoning, the worsening living conditions will cause Nigerians to become fed up with the APC and vote it out of power.
In the last seven months, the party has lost three state governors to the APC, namely Governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, Ben Ayade of Cross River and, recently, Bello Mattawalle of Zamfara.
Even more worrisome for the once ruling PDP are rumours that at least a governor from South East, one from the South South and another from the North East would soon defect to the APC.
PDP had barely dismissed the claim when its governors began to jump ship. The most recent defection of Zamfara State governor attracted a lot of bile from the PDP, with the party even threatening to seek redress in court.
While the national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, described the action of its former governors as shameful, the forum of PDP governors accused the APC-led federal government of harassing and intimidating its members into joining the party. It added that the governing party intends to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
But PDP has reasons to be worried. By the end of the 2019 general elections and the dramatic litigations that followed, APC had 20 states while PDP controlled 15 states.
However, as of today, APC has made inroads into PDP territories of the South East and South South while reclaiming its core state in the North West. APC now controls 22 states to PDP’s 13 states.
LEADERSHIP Sunday, however, learnt that the opposition party leadership is making plans to summon a national executive committee meeting soon to discuss the next line of action.
However, the burden of the recent spate of defections appears to have weighed heavily on the Prince Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as some of his opponents have blamed him for what has befallen the party of late.
Prince Kassim Afegbua, whose membership was disputed by the party, has blamed the party leadership for the defection of the governors. He said the party leaders must act now by sacking the current party leadership to save the party from imploding.
Similarly, a PDP youth group, South South Youth Vanguard, has also blamed the party leadership for the situation.
A statement by its national chairman, James Efe Akpofure, said that the party will be empty before the current leadership leaves office by December if they are not removed.
A party chieftain from the North who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunnday on condition of anonymity said, “The onslaught against our party appears a systemic attempt to strangulate us and stop us from making any headway in 2023.
“We are not afraid of an open contest, a free and fair election. We are not. But when you see the antics of the administration, like the delay in passing the Electoral Act, the insistence on making a known card carrying member of the APC and presidential aide a national commissioner in INEC, then you know that the prospects of a free and fair election become questionable. Other than these, we have no doubt that the PDP can bounce back and actually win in 2023.
“I can tell you that a lot of APC chieftains are also not pleased with what is happening in the APC, but like Governor Nyesom Wike said recently, they are afraid to move now because of the repercussions,” the party chieftain said.
Another party source confirmed that the PDP leadership had pleaded with the governors not to defect.
“I can tell you that the party leadership did all that it could to make the governor’s stay but I think the point has been made enough that you cannot force a governor to stay back when he is resolved to leave. Any excuse can be made to justify his leaving,” he said.
A former chairman of the Fresh PDP and an ex-presidential aide, Chief Olukayode Akindele, believes that the defections would affect the party ahead of 2023.
He told LEADERSHIP Sunday, “Certainly! No doubt. Elections in Nigeria are very expensive, especially general elections. Ninety percent of such expenses (parties, primaries, election proper, etc) are funded by sitting governors and immediate past governors.”
The director general of the PDP Governors’ Forum, CID Maduabum, however, disagrees. He believes that in a free and fair election, PDP would win and those governors who have defected would suffer the anger of the people.
“I don’t think so. The Nigerian people are fed up with APC. Once there is free and fair elections, APC will be history. Some of the governors who defected will face the wrath of the people,” he told LEADERSHIP Sunday.
On his part, a former deputy governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, said the spate of defections does not guarantee electoral success for the governing party in the light of the security and economic crises bedeviling the country.
While admitting that defections have become an unfortunate part of Nigeria’s political experience, he noted that if the PDP puts its house in order, the party can win the 2023 polls.
He said, “Defection has unfortunately become part of our constitutional democracy in Nigeria, but in my view it does not in itself guarantee electoral success for the benefiting party. If PDP puts its house in order and does the right things, it can weather the seeming political storm gathering towards 2023.
“It must be understood that the economic problems and the unprecedented security challenges we are experiencing, though unfortunate, may favour PDP in 2023.”
Speaking on the matter, the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the governors who dumped the party did not leave with the party structures.
“Those who are leaving the party are not going away with our structures; our structures remain intact. Those leaving the party have not been able to convince the followership in their respective states on the need to follow them.
“So by and large, those who have left will be distracted because our party remains intact and we are ready for elections because Buhari and the APC administration has failed.
“In Cross River State, Governor Ayade left but Senator Bassey Gershon and Liyel Imoke remain. Former governor Donald Duke has returned to the party. These are the men who largely built the PDP in the state.
“In Ebonyi, we still have Senator Ayim Pius Ayim, Senator Sam Egwu, Hon Obinna Ogba and other federal lawmakers still in the party. So who did he leave with? So the structure of the party remains intact.
“In Zamfara State, the deputy governor and lawmakers refused to go. At the end of day, it is the desperation and greed of the governors that are being manifested and that is what Nigerians see,” the PDP spokesman said.