However, the current internal wrangling amongst PDP bigwigs is threatening its delicate balance and by extension, overheating the polity.
What PDP needs, in the estimation of pundits, is to present a common interest from the party’s wide, and oftentimes, varying interests – in order to secure sufficient internal and external support as they go into the all-important general elections.
The emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential candidate, understandably, placed him at loggerheads with Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike who put up a very bitter fight for the presidential ticket.
Analysts believe that the issues that worked in Atiku’s favour may be that the party wanted to outwit the APC in one of the latter’s strongholds — the north, the need for a strong war chest to prosecute the 2023 presidential elections, and his national outlook.
Two weeks after the primaries which was adjudged largely free and fair, issues began with calls for the resignation of the national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. This has been further compounded by dangerously conflicting signals from political associates of Governor Wike. These have greatly threaten the much-needed unity in the party.
Agreed that Governor Wike was a pillar when the party was ‘deserted’ and he is among the few bigwigs that never left the party, that, however, should not be a licence for him to bring the whole house down at this point in time simply because he lost the presidential primary.
Should PDP leaders fail to resist the temptation of the continued indulgence of Governor Wike, they risk being viewed by Nigerians as unserious. This, I dare add, will greatly weaken PDP ahead of the general elections.
The issues confronting Nigerians, especially the maladministration by the ruling APC, are ernomous. Should the PDP fail to fix its intra-party problems on time, how then does the party expect Nigerians to trust it to fix the myriad of problems bedeviling the nation?
The task of rebuilding a battered Nigeria from the current misgovernment of the present administration does not give room for massaging the ego of anyone let alone that of Wike.
The leadership of the party must not succumb to the antics of one person to the detriment of the whole. The lesson must be driven home that Governor Wike cannot use the common patrimony of the the Rivers people to bamboozle the party into submission.
With the benefit of hindsight, he will not be governor in the next 10 months and will be called to account for his eight-year stewardship.
His political mentor, former governor Peter Odili also sought the presidency during his time and was even favoured to win. Things didn’t go as planned but he never threatened to pull down the house as Wike is currently doing. It is high time he learned from this
PDP must be focused and come out stronger using this as a test case for what it can deliver in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like Nigeria. These are, indeed, serious times that require serious and pragmatic approaches. PDP must rise above this minor distraction and approach the glorious future that beckons.