Political parties that want to make the difference in 2023 are now preoccupied with plans and projections of what to do and what not to do to succeed. They are wooing stalwarts from other parties and programing how they can contribute to the success stories of their parties. On the other hand, PDP seems to be in slumber.
The PDP was the ruling party for 16 unbroken years, between 1999 and 2015. It was also the ruling party in Adamawa State until May 29th, 2015, when it lost power temporarily to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP has numerous stalwarts in its ranks within the state. Amongst the top shots are Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa, who was Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under PDP platform; Alhaji Bamanga Mohammed Tukur (BMT), a former National Chairman of the party; Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Wakili Adamawa, a former Minister; Professor Jibril Aminu, a former Senator, and former Governor Boni Haruna who ruled Adamawa State for two terms of four years each under the platform of the PDP. General Haladu Hananiya, Chief Joel Madaki, Dr. Umar Ardo, and many others, too numerous to mention here, are also top party chieftains who contribute immensely to PDP’s numerous successes at elections, both at the state and national levels.
However, liberal democratic political parties co-exist with crises. This was the case with political parties in the First Republic when Chief Obafemi Awolowo broke ranks and parted ways with Chief Ladoke Akintola and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe suffered an unexpected defeat in the Western House of Assembly in the 1960s. This and other disturbances led to“operation wet” in Western Nigeria, the January 15th, 1966, coup and the July 1966, counter-coup and the subsequent civil war of 1967-1970.
In a similar vein, the PDP had intra-party crises in the recent past that were amicably resolved both at the center and in the states. These measures were usually adopted to resolve outstanding issues and reconcile members for peaceful co-existence and the success of the party during elections. From 1999, when the PDP was created to date, all known dichotomies, cracks, or crises were addressed promptly to ensure unity of direction and purpose and to win elections. Now, PDP has two factions in the state with one led by Barrister A. T. Shehu and rPDP under Dr. Umar Ardo. This is the reality. What reconciliatory measures are on the ground to resolve this crisis? How will Dr. Umar Ardo and his team be approached and brought for dialogue?
In INDIGO Volume 4, Number 40, of December 25th-January 1, 2021, there was a special report: “Crisis Engulfs Adamawa PDP: Defections Decimate Party.” In the report, they sought for intervention to resolve the PDP imbroglio in the state to present a united party for future elections. We later learned there subsisting litigation involving Dr. Umar Ardo, the PDP in the sta, te, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Under the circumstances, no genuine and truthful reconciliatory moves could be embarked upon unless the case is disposed of.
Meanwhile, there can an enduring lesson to learn from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Towards the 2019 gubernatorial election, the APC allowed the intra-party crisis to fester unabatedly. The crisis dragged on up o the election period. During the election, some chieftains and prominent members of the party engaged in confounding anti-party activities such that their party lost the election. Some of the APC stalwarts were later quoted to have said of their sitting governor who lost his second term bid: “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
To withe n the peace, you prepare for war. To win elections you don’t sit on your oars, you sweat in the field. Is PDP sweating for 2023 at all?