Self destruction. This, perhaps, is the best way to describe the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), considering the possible effect of the many internal wranglings that have characterised its existence in recent time.
The situation has made many to conclude that except it quickly put its house in order, the opposition, particularly, the All Progressives Congress (APC), may catch in on the lapses and force the PDP to become the opposition from 2015.
In the last few months, crises in the PDP have dominated political discourse. The crises, which many people had thought would be a family affair within the ruling party have extended beyond what the party can contain.
And obviously, the effect of the wrangling is visible in many areas. In the last few months prominent PDP chieftains have been at loggerheads with one another over control of power. The crises have created cracks in the wall of the party and all appears not to be well at all.
The issues on the anvil are as varied as they are befuddling. One is the alleged face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo; another is the tussle between some PDP governors with President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP national chairman.
Others include the sack of some members of the party's National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Council (NEC); the suspension of the chairman of the Nigeria Governor's Forum (NGF) and River States governor, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi; the Board of Trustees (BoT) saga; dissolution of many PDP state chapters executive; leadership tussle in the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) and the battle for 2015 presidency.
Apart from the tussle within the ruling party at the federal level, many state chapters of the PDP also experienced serious problems at state, local government and ward levels, leaving many people with the view that the wranglings are signals of dangers waiting for the party in the 2015 general election.
Although internal wranglings within political parties are not new in Nigeria but many people believe that the ones the ruling party is engaged in now may undo it. This is despite the previous occasions where it settled its problems and went ahead to win in elections.
The seriousness of the present crises in the PDP is seen, for example, in the open attacks among major party chieftains in the last few months, especially in the press.
Reason, therefore, that many political analysts have concluded that the PDP may be inadvertently presently playing into the hands of the opposition.
For instance, if the statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is anything to go by about 23 governors, including 12 PDP governors are already in the yet to be registered APC.
Without doubt, the fortune of the APC is swelled by the crises that have been rocking the PDP. Speaking at the 7th Town Hall Meeting with constituents of Lagos Central Senatorial District organised by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in Lagos penultimate Friday, the ACN spokesman disclosed that 12 PDP governors will make their declaration for APC after the party is registered. While many people see Lai Mohammed's comment as a mere political statement, others believe in him, citing the division in the NGF as one good reason.
The 36 states governors , it would be recalled are presently divided into two camps. While one is led by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State , the other is led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State.
The Jang's group is seen as pro-Jonathanand PDP while the Amaechi-led faction which consists of about 11 opposition governors is seen as anti-Jonathan and PDP governors. The absence of the 19 governors in Amaechi's camp during the Monday meeting of the 36 governors called by President Jonathan in Aso Rock is a clear signal that many of the PDP governors are not in good term with their party.
Knowing well that a divided house may be dangerous to the ruling party in the 2015 elections, especially as 2015 presidency seem to be tearing the party apart, PDP leadership caucus is presently doing everything possible to bring back the aggrieved members.
PDP national caucus, during its meeting on Tuesday night, appointed President Jonathan to head a reconciliation committee that is saddled with the responsibility of bringing aggrieved members back to the party.
Though President Jonathan has not publicly declared his intention to run for 2015 presidency, those in the know have sounded positive about his ambition.
The body language of the president is believed to have shown that he may, afterall, not be opposed to coming for another term.
With the appointment of President Jonathan as chairman of the reconciliation committee, many people are watching with keen interest how far the committee can go, considering the fact that many of the aggrieved members are anti-Jonathan and putting into consideration that the genesis of some of the PDP crises was born out of the alleged attempt to stop President Jonathan from seeking another term in 2015.
Irrespective of the move that may be taken by the Jonathan-led committee, analysts are of the view that any failure by PDP to reconcile some of the warring factions may be dangerous to the party, especially, in view of the rate at which opposition parties are intensifying their determination to send PDP packing from Aso Rock in 2015.
Many are also of the view that PDP may witness the same treatment it got during the 2011 governorship elections in Oyo and Ogun States, where majority of its chieftains worked against its victory during the election.
Many founding fathers of the party are also not keeping silent as some of them have started several moves to prevent the ruling party from being disgraced by APC in 2015 elections.
Former PDP National Deputy Chairman (South) and Director-General of Yar'Adua/Jonathan presidential campaign organisation, Chief Olabode George, believes that the crisis rocking the PDP could lead to the collapse of the country if not urgently resolved.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos last week Friday, George said PDP, being the first and only national party in the country, was carrying enormous national burden that must not be allowed to explode. He warned that "if it explodes, Nigeria would be worse for it." He therefore challenged the founding fathers of the party to strive to resolve the crisis before its consequences consume the country.
He added that the leadership of the PDP should rise above the crest of the crisis so that the house would not collapse. He said: "Never in the history of this country have we had such a broad-based national party. The concept of PDP was to help democracy grow and develop. And when the concept is being threatened, some of us the founding fathers should be concerned. "We have carried a lot of heavy load on our head. But there is no cause for alarm. We had worse crisis in the past and we overcame it.
This one is not also insurmountable because it is not fundamental. "So, that is why I am appealing to all of us in the party to be more committed not only to the party but for the sake of Nigeria.
This is the only country we have and so must join hands to prevent it from collapsing." While Bode George believes in the intervention of the founding fathers of the party to rescue it from destruction, a group of PDP youths under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party Youths For Good Governance, is of the view that only the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan can save the party from its numerous crises. It stressed that his swift intervention would save the ruling party from imminent collapse.
The group in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Shuaibu Aminu, said that contrary to claims that the founding fathers could help the party out of its crises, only Jonathan's intervention can save the party. "Our president (Goodluck Jonathan) has the capacity to rescue the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the current crises once he is determined to do so.
We do not believe in the ability of the so-called founding fathers of the party – some of them are working secretly to kill the party. Like what a prominent PDP leader in Kano, Alhaji Aminu Dabo, said recently, the problem with our party is exclusion of influential members from the affairs of the party.
"We agree with our leader, Alhaji Aminu Dabo, that many party members with little or no knowledge are the ones running the affairs of our party; they dominate the party and exclude many of our respected leaders from the party. So, there is a huge injustice that must be corrected urgently," the group warned.
Though many people may see the ongoing crises in PDP as serious, the party's former National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, believes that there is no crisis in it. Speaking in a television programme, Metuh said what the party was facing was a challenge that every organisation goes through.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwueremadu, while speaking with journalists recently, said the PDP would come out of the present crisis a stronger party.
Many may see the tussle in the PDP as a party's affair but a renowned economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, believes that the PDP crisis, which is heating up the polity, is threatening Nigeria's democracy. His words: "In the past, the fact that there was something to share, reduced people's willingness to protest the impunity. The only thing that bound PDP members together was that PDP was a clear part or avenue to power and personal gains.
But now it is no longer so, hence the crisis. The whole PDP crisis story shows that we have a democracy without democrats in the political parties. The intolerance level is so high. Everything is about power and very little about purpose. Everything is focused on the next elections, not about serving the people." Utomi added that PDP members were merely repositioning so as to remain relevant beyond 2015 elections. He noted that the current state of the party should not be a surprise to anybody.
Optimistic as many chieftains of the PDP have sounded, many Nigerians are of the view that the PDP may just be working against itself with its numerous crises. They believe that if not resolved, the crises might just work in favour of the APC. A mass movement of major personalities from the PDP to APC might just be the strength needed to turn the tide against the ruling party. The question now is: Will PDP play into the hand of APC or resolve its crises and forge ahead? Observers are watching.
National Mirror