The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is perched precariously on the precipice. In the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, the party has been buffeted by a cocktail of crises, which continue to weaken the opposition party.

From the national leadership down to some state and zonal chapters, it has been a tale of woes for the once dominant political party.

Apart from the crisis over the national chairmanship and secretary positions, no fewer than 12 state chapters, as well as the South-South and South-East chapters, are enmeshed in a bitter tussle over control of party structure.

The PDP ran into troubled waters shortly after its presidential primary for the last general elections. This followed the demand of the G-5 governors for the sack of Senator Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of the party.

The G-5 consists of Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu and Samuel Ortom of Rivers, Oyo, Enugu, Abia and Benue, respectively.

Ayu?s eventual ouster and replacement with the deputy national chairman (North), Ambassador Umar Damagum, as acting chairman, sparked another crisis, with the North Central insisting that a substantive national chairman must be appointed from the zone.

However, it is the dispute over who is the national secretary of the PDP that has kept the party on the edge since the beginning of the year.

The South East chapter of the PDP in 2023 nominated former national youth leader of the party, Sunday Ude-Okoye, as a replacement for Senator Samuel Anyanwu, after the latter emerged as the candidate in the last Imo State governorship election.

However, Anyanwu?s ouster has been a subject of litigation, with an Enugu State High Court affirming Ude-Okoye?s nomination and mandating the PDP NWC to swear him in as national secretary. Last December, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, affirmed the judgment of the lower Court.

Regardless, the Supreme Court, in its verdict on an Appeal filed by Anyanwu, nullified the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal and upheld the minority judgment, which stated that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the issue, as it was an internal affair of the party.

However, the judgment elicited different reactions from the gladiators. While Anyanwu?s camp celebrated the judgment, PDP NWC said it was a validation of the position of the party that Ude-Okoye is the authentic scribe for the party.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment on the national secretary tussle, the PDP Governors Forum met to chart a course forward for the opposition party.

Since the inception of the opposition party, the PDP governors have always wielded enormous influence in the affairs of the party. This Is especially as, by the party?s convention, they are the leaders of the party in their respective states.

In the absence of an elected president from the party and the exit of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan from the PDP, the governors call the shots.

Expectedly, the PDP Governors, after a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on April 14, rolled out what could be termed their Marshall plan for the rebuilding of the opposition party, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The opposition governors, in a communique read by the party?s chairman, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, made four resolutions, which observers say are critical for the party?s rebuilding efforts, ahead of the 2027 polls.

Specifically, the governors affirmed their support for Anyanwu?s ouster and recommended that the deputy national secretary, Setonji Koshedo, should step in as acting national secretary, pending the nomination and ratification of a substantive national secretary from the South East.

Also, the governors stated emphatically that the PDP will not be involved in any form of coalition or merger for the 2027 polls, as well as proposed a date for the national convention, and recommended the constitution of zoning and convention committees.

According to the communique, ?Noting the nationwide speculations about possible merger of political parties, groups and/or associations, the Forum resolved that the PDP will not join any coalition or merger.

?However, the PDP as a major opposition party welcomes any party, persons or groups that are willing to join it with a view to wresting power and enthroning good leadership in 2027.

?The Forum reiterates its position taken in Asaba on the issue of the National Secretary of the party, but in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment, Forum resolved to recommend that the Deputy National Secretary acts as National Secretary, pending the nomination and ratification of a Substantive Secretary from the South East Zone and NEC respectively at its next meeting.?

It added, ?The Forum resolves that working in conjunction with the National Working Committee (NWC) and other relevant organs of the party, to hold a NEC Meeting on the 27th of May, 2025; constitute a Zoning Committee that will address all issues relating to zoning of party offices and hold an early convention in August 2025, precisely on the 28th, 29th and 30th in the ancient city of Kano.?

According to the communique, the PDP governors are recommending that the Zoning Committee should be headed by the Bayelsa governor, Douye Diri, as Chairman; while the Adamawa governor will serve as chairman of the National Convention Committee.

Pundits say the Ibadan communique is more or less a declaration by governors of their desire to take effective charge of the affairs of the party in the run-up to the 2027 general elections.

However, the challenge is seemingly a lack of unity of purpose among the governors. No sooner had the Governors rolled out ?their Marshall plan? for the 2027 polls than Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno, openly declared support for the reelection of President Bola Tinubu.

Eno, while speaking at an event in his state, had declared, ?I don?t know how to talk from both sides of the mouth. The other day, I said I was going to support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. People asked, ?Ah, why would you say that?? But at night, those same people go behind and tell Baba they support him. Then in the afternoon, they?re doing something else.

?As for me, I?m supporting Baba Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term. When the time comes, I?ll tell you why. The time hasn?t come yet. But when it does, you?ll understand. Let me keep it for now?no need to lie to ourselves.?

While there have not been any formal reactions from both the PDP-GF and the party itself, Daily Sun gathered that the open declaration of support for Tinubu is a cause for concern in the opposition party.

Like Eno, there are fears that two other first-time governors, elected on the platform of the PDP, may cast their lots with President Tinubu in the coming days.

Nonetheless, analysts say the tasks before the opposition governors in their quest to reposition the PDP for the 2027 contest include reconciling aggrieved members, strengthening the hands of the National Working Committee (NWC) to deal decisively with rising cases of anti-party activities in the party, and ensuring equitable zoning of party positions and the presidential ticket.

Not a few believe that the survival of the PDP lies in genuine reconciliation, as well as dealing decisively with the many cases of anti-party activities, so as to enthrone party discipline, and ensure a generally acceptable zoning formula for party positions.

A member of the PDP NEC, Eddy Olafeso, told Daily Sun in a recent interview that it is imperative to sanction erring members as a way of maintaining party discipline.

Olafeso said, ?If you are not obeying the laws of the party, and you are contravening the constitution of the party, you are an offender. And there is no reason why you can?t be sanctioned within the confines of the constitution of the party and that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I believe that people will have to be punished as a deterrent to those who may want to commit the same crime in the future.?

Recall that the remote cause of the problems plaguing the PDP is disagreements over the zoning of the Presidential ticket in 2015. After Jonathan lost, the PDP, ahead of the 2019 elections, categorically zoned the ticket to the North while the South held the national chairman position.

Nonetheless, in 2023, the PDP threw open its presidential ticket. This was against expectations that the ticket would be ceded to the South, since the North had already produced the national chairman.

Disputation over the propriety of the North holding both is directly responsible for the loss of the party in the last election and the current crisis in the opposition party.

Therefore, the ability of the governors to strengthen the hands of the NWC to reconcile differences at the various levels, punish anti-party activities by members, and engender an acceptable zoning formula for the 2027 presidential ticket and party positions will to a great extent determine how far they will go in the quest to rejuvenate the opposition party.

Pundits say in the immediate term, the governors must insist on the holding of a meeting of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) on May 27, as they proposed.

The NEC, whichh is the second-highest organ of the party after the National Convention, last met on April 18, 2024. (Daily Sun)

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