•Panel summons Shekarau, Kwankwaso, ex-
ministers
•Ortom may get re-election ticket, PDP
wades in Gemade-Suswam tussle for
Senatorial ticket
•Party hands over structure to Saraki, as
Senate President woos PDP leaders in Kwara
•Kogi: Melaye may get ticket, Yusuf likely
back in the House of Reps
•Dankwambo to determine ex-Minister’s
fate, Nafada’s governorship ambition
The recent gale of defections by top ranking
members of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
has sparked crises in at least nine state
chapters of the opposition party.
Kano, Kwara, Benue, Kogi, Gombe and Sokoto
are top on the list of the affected states,
The Nation can now report.
The rest are Imo, Adamawa and Bauchi.
Party sources said yesterday that beneath
the euphoria that greeted the defection of
one governor, 11 senators and 35 Reps, for
now, is immense resentment toward the
defectors by current members of the PDP.
Disturbed by the brewing tension, the PDP
leadership has mandated the party’s
Committee on Contact and Mobilization to
wade in and hold talks with stakeholders.
The committee is headed by ex-Cross River
State Governor Liyel Imoke.
It is scheduled to meet with stakeholders
from the affected states tomorrow in
Abuja.
It is understood that the terms of
engagement might be negotiated between
old PDP members and defectors from the
APC.
The last stage of talks is said to account
for the delay in the defection of Senate
President Bukola Saraki and Governor
Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State.
Saraki has spent the last 72 hours to reach
out to PDP leaders in the state who are
opposed to his return to the party,
especially the plan to hand over the party
structure to his group.
Many of such PDP leaders are said to have
now backed down on their threat not to
accept him back into their fold.
Investigation revealed that the main
challenges facing the PDP borders on party
structure in the affected states and
power sharing formula ahead of next year’s
polls.
A highly placed source confirmed
tomorrow’s meeting, saying: “the PDP
leadership has mandated Imoke Committee
to resolve the grey areas between
defectors and old party members in order
to put the party in good stead ahead of
primaries.
“The committee has invited stakeholders in
some strategic states like Kwara, Kano,
Sokoto, Benue and others for a meeting on
Monday.
“At the session the committee might
broker agreement between the key
defectors and old members of the party.
“The major fear is how to create a sense of
belonging for all. The party does not want
the defections to lead to more complicated
problems.
“The terms offered some defectors had not
helped matters. For instance, the PDP
agreed to concede the right of first refusal
to any incumbent governor defecting from
APC to seek re-election.”
The case of Benue State, according to a
party source, is particularly complex.
“We have a serious case at hand in Benue
State where ex-Governor Gabriel Suswam
has been sustaining PDP over the last three
years,” the source said.
“But the way the PDP national secretariat
is managing the defection of Governor
Samuel Ortom and Senator Barnabas Gemade
might lead to Suswam losing out.
“While the PDP leadership has decided to
cede the governorship ticket to Ortom
despite protests, Suswam loyalists were
shocked that the party is contemplating
giving the Benue Northeast Senatorial
ticket to Gemade who defeated the ex-
governor for the same seat in 2015.
“We do not know how the party will
appease Suswam, who is a key member of
the Imoke Committee. The alternative for
Suswam is to either defect to APC or
engage in sabotage in 2019 if he is politically
stripped Unclad.
“Having been a long-time associate of the
Saraki dynasty, there is suspicion that the
Senate President may have negotiated for
Gemade.”
A similar situation is playing out in Gombe
State where Governor Ibrahim Hassan
Dankwambo is said to be deeply interested
in picking his successor.
His decision is unlikely to go in favour of a
former Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Senator Bayero Nafada who
is interested in the governorship seat.
“All that Nafada has wanted since 2015 is
the governorship ticket,” a source said.
But the governor is said not to be sure of
Nafada’s loyalty post 2019 and is therefore
not comfortable supporting his aspiration.
The source added:”the worst case scenario
for Nafada is to return to the Senate which
might put paid to his dream of governing
the state.
“Also, a former Minister of Transport, Idris
Umar, who left PDP for APC in 2016 has been
holding talks to return to PDP. But
stakeholders, especially the governor, who
are suspecting that he is returning to the
party for the governorship ticket have
vowed to resist his defection.”
Atiku, Nyako want different candidates for
Adamawa governorship race
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and
ex-Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako
are not on the same page on who should fly
PDP’s governorship flag in the state.
While Nyako is tipping his senator son,
Abdulaziz, Atiku is believed to prefer either
Governor Jibrilla Bindow or “any other core
loyalist in the mould of ex-Governor Boni
Haruna who stood by him between 2003 and
2007 when he had conflict with ex-President
Olusegun Obasanjo.”
On Kogi State, the source said: “it is
apparent that our party might go back to
our winning formula of producing the
governorship candidate from Kogi East and
deputy governor from Kogi West. Short-
changing Kogi Central (the Ebira) might
create an image crisis for PDP.
“While some of our leaders have opted for
an automatic ticket for Senator Dino
Melaye in Kogi West others said it might be
a violation of the power rotation formula in
the district.
“If Melaye gets the ticket, the Ijumu-Gbede
axis will be occupying the seat for 16 years
in a row.
“The last time Lokoja-Kotonkarfe-Oworo
axis occupied the seat was between 1999
and 2007 when Sen. Tunde Ogbeha was their
representative.
“Melaye became Senator with the huge
votes from Lokoja-Kotonkarfe-Oworo axis.
“The emergence of a member of the House of
Representatives, Tajudeen Yusuf as a
senatorial aspirant has added more problem
for the Imoke Committee because the
Representative is more acceptable to the
people of Kogi West than Melaye. The
alternative is to allow Yusuf to go for a
third term in the House.”
PDP concedes Kwara structure to Saraki
A member of the National Working
Committee (NWC) of the PDP said the party
leadership has agreed to hand over the
party structure, senatorial ticket and
senate presidency to Saraki.
He will also decide those to fly PDP’s flag for
the governorship and House of
Representatives elections.
The source said: “the old leaders of the
party are however tasking the PDP
secretariat on what is on the table for
them.
“It is unknown what will be the fate of
stalwarts like former Minister of National
Planning, Prof. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman,
ex-Minister of Transport, Ibrahim Bio,
Senator Simeon Ajibola (the party’s
governorship candidate in 2015); the state
chairman of PDP, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo; a
former Vice Chancellor of UNILORIN, Prof.
Abdulraheem Oba; Yinka Aluko and others.
“A safe option being explored by the party is
for Saraki to reach out to these PDP
stalwarts and open up negotiation with
them. In the last 72 hours, the Senate
President has opened talks on how to co-
exist with old PDP members.
“The under-the-table discussion may have
informed the delay by Saraki and Governor
Abdulfatah Ahmed in announcing their
defection.”
No meeting point yet for Kwankwaso,
Shekarau, Wali, Gorozo
Kano State also looks like a hard nut to
crack with no meeting point yet in sight for
Senator Rabiu Kwankwanso who is returning
to the PDP, and ex-Governor Ibrahim
Shekarau, ex-Minister Aminu Wali and
Senator Hayatu Gorozo.
“Kwankwaso is demanding 60 per cent of the
party’s structure which means his group
will produce the governor and other key
positions. He also said he will finance the
party during the 2019 poll,” a source said.
“Therefore, he is leaving the 40 per cent to
the three other leaders (Shekarau, Wali, and
Gorozo) to share. The three leaders have
said a guest cannot dictate to the
landlord.”
A source in Shekarau’s camp said: “To
compound the challenge in Kano, Kwankwaso
is yet to sit down with PDP leaders to
discuss on mutual options.”
Dogara gets concession to return as
Speaker, wants to install next gov of Bauchi
House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu
Dogara, according to sources, has been given
the concession by the PDP to seek re-
election in Bauchi State and return as
Speaker.
“But Dogara is not stopping at this
concession, he appears interested in
installing the next governor of the state
with strong backing for a former majority
leader of the House of Representatives,
Abdul Ningi as against a former Minister of
the FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, who has been
sustaining the party,” one of our sources
said.
Mohammed, the source added felt “his probe
by the House of Representatives, despite
entreaties to Dogara, was a ploy to destroy
his political career.
“Also, the party might favour Senators
Misau and Nasif with automatic return
tickets although the PDP will be taking a
great risk in view of recent revolts against
their performance by their constituents.”
On Sokoto State, sources said Governor
Aminu Tambuwal will be doing battle with a
former Deputy Governor, Mukhtar Shagari
who has declared his interest in the 2019
governorship race.
The source said: “Shagari and his loyalists
cannot go far. This is more so due to the
alliance between Tambuwal and ex-Governor
Attahiru Bafarawa against ex-Governor
Aliyu Wammako. The headache of PDP is how
to rehabilitate Shagari, who has been a
consistent PDP member in Sokoto.
“Concerning Imo State, PDP might adopt a
50-50 power sharing formula between its
old members and anticipated defectors
from APC like the embattled Deputy
Governor, Eze Madumere, Senator Ifeanyi
Ararume, a former National Organizing
Secretary of APC, Sen. Osita Izunaso and
other heavyweights.
“But the original PDP members prefer a
70-30 power sharing ratio. And if Ararume
defects to PDP, he would have foreclosed his
governorship ambition. As it is now, a
former Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha is the
aspirant to beat and he has a firm grip on
the party structure in the state.”
Source: Nairaland
