It is no longer strange that the crisis of confidence that has ravaged the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is becoming intractable by the day.
Since its presidential primary that led to the emergence of former vice president Atiku Abubakar as candidate as well as the nomination of Delta state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate, the opposition party has known no peace.
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, who was the first runner up in the presidential primary, alongside his colleague-governors from Enugu, Oyo, Benue and Abia States have distanced themselves from Atiku’s campaign activities. They have equally insisted on the resignation of Senator Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of the party to pave way for a southerner.
Ever since, almost every state chapter of PDP, especially in the southern part of the country, currently harbours its share of the crisis. The reason for this development appears anchored on the deep-seated animosity among PDP leaders across the affected states.
And rather than exploring means of resolving the crisis, combatants in the various states are entrenching themselves ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
With specific reference to Ondo State, the silent but potent cold war amongst stakeholders has sharply stratified the PDP along two major seemingly irreconcilable lines.
While the two-term governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is with Wike, his erstwhile political son, former attorney general and the 2016/2020 governorship candidate of the PDP in the state, Eyitayo Jegede, is a staunch ally of Atiku.
Also, a former deputy governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi, who was in the same camp with Mimiko during the last governorship election in Ondo, is not on the same page with him this time around. Ajayi is said to be with Atiku even as he’s contesting for the Senate seat in Ondo South.
Although the party leaders had maintained a make-belief stance of cordiality, the recent constitution of the Ondo State chapter of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council appears to have exposed the lack of cohesion and animosity among them.
In the team, Ambassador Rowland Omowa, a former ally of Mimiko was made the campaign chairman with Jegede as his deputy. Interestingly, Mimiko was relegated to number three on the list with his position as Leader of Campaign. But as the list went viral, social media reactions trailed the development with diverse comments and articles.
One of such comments made allusion to the fact that the former governor had ditched the Wike Camp.
However, Mimiko has vowed to stick to the camp of the five governors and their allies even as he rejected his inclusion in the Ondo State chapter of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Council.
A statement by Mimiko’s special assistant on Media and Digital Communications, John Akinduro, says,;
“Dr Olusegun Mimiko has been inundated with calls and messages from the general public, and his political friends and concerned individuals around the nation; and in particular, his teeming supporters across the length and breadth of Ondo State, seeking clarity on a fake news making the rounds since yesterday that he had ditched Governors Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde and their colleagues governors, and abandoned the agitation for regional equity within the PDP; and in particular, making a party member of southern extraction its the national chairman before the 2023 election.
“The report and the list that triggered it, are fake and a deliberate attempt to muddle things up and smear Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
“It must be stated with emphasis that Dr. Mimiko was neither consulted by anyone nor consented to his inclusion in any Ondo state PDP Presidential Campaign Council list.
“For the avoidance of doubt and to set the record straight, Dr Mimiko is unwavering in his commitment to the principle of equity, fairness and justice through which he believes a credible push for a PDP victory is possible.
“He fully subscribes to the agitation by his colleagues and other stakeholders in PDP and the generality of Nigerians that the PDP structure must reflect Nigeria’s diversity, if it genuinely wants to unify a visibly divided country.”
Obviously, Mimiko stayed away from inuaguration of the former vice president’s campaign outfit which held twenty four hours after his open rejection of the offer to serve as leader.
Ajube’s inclusion in Tinubu/Shetima campaign council as another albatross
Another burden the PDP has to counter is the curious inclusion of the erstwhile Western commander of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Bibopere Ajube.
Ajube is now an entrepreneur and managing director of a multimillion skill works outfit, Bradama International situated in his home local government where he has engaged and trained thousands of youths.
Although he is not officially a member of any political party, Ajube has over the years, been an effective and influential factor in swaying votes, it was gathered.
He has been instrumental to massive turn in of votes in the riverine Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency areas of Ondo state. It is argued that no candidate has ever won the area in question without his support. The popularity of the PDP in the riverine areas of the state for about 10 years had been due to Ajube’s influence.
In 2019, Ajube supported the incumbent House of Representatives member for the area, Kolade Akinjo and he returned for a second term in office. However, Ajube is said to have backed the immediate past Information Commissioner in the state, Donald Ojogo for the 2023 Reps seat as against Akinjo who desires a third term.
Expectedly, his inclusion in the APC Presidential Campaign Council appears to have rattled the opposition PDP.
Ajube was last week announced as deputy director of the APC PCC even as he is in the intelligence and security subcommittee of Tinubu.
A member of the Ondo PDP state executive committee, on condition of anonymity, revealed that Ajube’s membership is a burden on the party.
“Those talking nonsense are just being economical with the truth; there is no single individual as a politician who has the resources and goodwill of Ajube to stand his way. Here is a man who has positively impacted on the youths and he is a great force to reckon with in the area.
“So we are really in a dilemma because he has never been a party member before; he had just been a helper and balancer of the politics of that area. But as it is, the game has changed seriously and most especially with the kind of backing he has openly given to the Ilaje/Ese-Odo APC Reps and Senate candidates in the south, we need to go back to the drawing board.
Curiously, barely one week after Ajube’s membership of the APC PCC was made public, an ex-militant from Ilaje local government, Job Omotuwa has opposed the PDP Reps candidate and incumbent, Akinjo’s return bid.
Omotuwa asked Akinjo to account for the sum of over N250m empowerment fund every year.
According to him: “When I was officially informed with facts and figures that Kolade Akinjo is collecting over N250million every year for empowerment alone, I was highly infuriated.
“We will make it a working system, especially, in the oil producing areas, for all political office holders to give account of stewardship irrespective of the party they belong to. The hardship of our people is so alarming. Enough is enough!”, Omotuwa said.
Also within the same period, a political pressure group, Ilaje/Ese-Odo Elite youths rejected the third term bid of Akinjo. They hinged their reason on equity, justice and fairness.
Leader of the group, Allen Omosuyi said Akinjo’s third term bid to the National Assembly will shortchange the Arogbo-Ijaw people in the scheme of things.
“Life is about chop and let others chop; we have tried for Akinjo who is from Ilaje and this time around, it should be the true of the Arogbo-Ijaw people to produce the Rep. The Ijaws are not slaves and they cannot be supporting others without benefitting so this is the reason we will ensire Akinjo’s third term dies a natural death, we cannot continue as if others don’t exist.
“Mahin has gone to the House of Reps with Akinjo for almost ten years. Before him, we had Olu Mafo from Aheri, Obolo and Agboola Ajayi from Apoi, so what is the offense of Arogbo-Ijaw Kingdom thst West continually stops them.”
The youth group represented by about 100 of its members thereafter unanimously agreed to mobilize all their members from the 22 wards of the federal constituency to ensure the emergence of Donald Ojogo at the polls come 2023.
