The spate of crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not subside any time soon as there is a grand design orchestrated by some northern elements within the party to weaken the party ahead of 2015 election should President Goodluck Jonathan emerge as flag bearer of the party Pointblanknews.com has gathered.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that President Jonathan and the party hierarchy would have to brace up for a long battle as the northern elements are driven by the fear that President Goodluck Jonathan would seek a second term.
However, while President Jonathan has not openly declared his intention to seek a second term, the northern elements are uncomfortable with the body language of the president which for them indicates he intends to run for president in 2015, the source said.
The party hierarchy, according to reports, is brooding over offering Jonathan the first right of refusal of the party’s presidential ticket as practised in the United States.
But according to source, as long as Jonathan intends to seek another term, the plot by the Northern members is to ensure that the party is engrossed in series of crisis that will leave it battered and weakened ahead of 2015.
The plan according to sources is to continue to fester crisis within the party which will drag till late 2014, thereby bequeathing a weak platform for Jonathan to contest with.
The source said “the whole crisis within the PDP is a grand design by some Northern elements within the party to make the party weak so that President Jonathan would not have a strong platform to contest the 2015 election with.
“Even though the president has not openly declared to run for a second term, they are concerned that the body language of the president suggest he would. So they will continue to stir crisis in the party till late 2014 such that the party would have been badly decimated, providing a weak platform for Jonathan to use”.
Pointblanknews.com was also told that the face-off between Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo is connected to the plot as the former president is said to be working in line with the Northern agenda.
The former President who has maintained that Jonathan would serve only on term, is said to have endorsed the candidature of an incumbent North-Western governor alongside a South-South governor to run for office.
The source confirmed that the sacking of executives of party in the South-West which was loyal to Obasanjo was a reaction by Jonathan to the moves by the former president, adding that Jonathan would bare his fangs against “anybody who sides with those who want to make the party unstable.
“I can tell you that Jonathan is fighting back by going against those party faithful that are loyal to Obasanjo.”
However, the source also stated that some PDP governors who have been linked with the merger party, the All Progressive Congress, (APC) are from the North.
The APC had bragged that about nine PDP governors have indicated interest to join the new party.
This however comes against the background that most of the northern governors, most of whom are serving their second terms in office are nursing ambition to run for president.
Some of the contenders include, governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); Margatarkada Wammako (Sokoto).