<\/p>\n
The People Democratic Party (PDP) is making frantic efforts to
\nreposition itself, rebrand its image and recapture its lost fortunes and
\nsupporters, butthe party is facing serious power wrangling.<\/p>\n
The PDP seems to be focusing its attention to the North- it wants its
\nNational Chairman and the 2019 presidential candidate to come from the
\nregion. However, the party has been met with some setbacks in its recent
\nattempts to start the process. Certain factors are responsible for that.<\/p>\n
After losing the 2015 elections; without proper analysis of the situation,
\nthe PDP, in haste, asked its then National Chairman, Ahmed Adamu Mu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122azu
\nto resign. The PDP failed to see that its woeful performance in the north
\nduring the 2015 elections was strongly due to the unprecedented Buhari
\nTsunami, the failure of the then central government to effectively
\ntackle the Boko Haram insurgency and the name Goodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n
It is commendable of the PDP to have realized early that its resurrection,
\nre-imaging and a restart must begin from the north. It was not a
\ncoincidence that Ali Modu Sheriff three months in office brought the
\nPDP back to life in the north. Though, hate him or love him- Sheriff is
\none of those adventurous politicians in the north who have grabbed the
\nnitty-gritty of the politics in the north and have connections in the
\nsouth. So, for the PDP to really begin a new start, it must take advantage
\nof some of its bigwigs in the north who have adept understanding of the
\nnexus of Hausa-Fulani and the minority politics in the north. Late MKO
\nAbiola\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inroad in the north was motorized on the basis of
\nutilization of the experience of individuals who understand that nexus.<\/p>\n
The PDP must bring on board people from the north to help the party to
\ncome to life in the north. Most of the party fortunes in the
\nnorth are lost. Thus, the party needs someone who understands how politics
\nplay out in the north. Apart from having a chairman who has such
\ncapacity, the PDP also needs its founding members who understand the
\nfundamentals of northern politics. \u00a0People like Sule Lamido, who is a
\nproduct of the Aminu Kano radical politics of the north. Lamido is from
\nthe core Hausa-Fulani states and has large followers. When Sherrif visited
\nDutse, the capital of Jigawa State on Monday, April 25, 2016,\u00c2\u00a0the mammoth
\ncrowd Sule Lamido attracted was a strong political statement. Furthermore,
\nhis cousins in the northeast will have nothing against him. The
\nmiddle-belt and many northern minorities share his politics of radicalism.
\nLamido greatest shortcoming is the corruption case hanging on his neck.
\nBut with his excellent performance as governor of Jigawa State and his
\nname is known throughout the country, just some \u00e2\u20ac\u02dclittle packaging\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is
\nwhat he needs.<\/p>\n
The PDP resurgence depends on whether it recaptures its fortunes in
\nthe north and how well it takes advantage of its bigwigs from the region.
\nHowever, for the PDP to make a full come back, some external factors has
\nto play to its advantage; Buhari cult-like popularity and
\nsupporters in the north fades out; the APC grossly mismanages its
\npolitical fortunes. Some members of the New PDP from the north pulls out
\nof the APC \u00a0the outcome of the case against Senate President Bukola
\nSaraki in the Code of Conduct Tribunal will determine that; the APC fails
\nto settle the disgruntled members of the New-PDP in the north – many
\nmembers of the New PDP in the APC from the north feel that the Buhari
\ngovernment has not offered them something tangible, claiming that most of
\nBuhari appointments have gone to people he personally knows and those
\nconnected to his friends, confidants or relatives. These new-PDP members
\nare also of the belief that, their members from some states in the south
\nwho got appointments from Buhari are simply fortunate because Buhari have
\nno option- he does not have longtime confidants from those states.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, PDP future depends on whether it recaptures its lost
\nfortunes in the north and how well it takes advantage of its experienced
\nmembers who have gone through mills of the politics of the north.<\/p>\n
Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Jimeta, Adamawa State, zaymohd@yahoo.com,
\n08036070980. He blogs at\u00c2\u00a0www.zayyaddp.blogspot.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The People Democratic Party (PDP) is making frantic efforts to reposition itself, rebrand its image and recapture its lost fortunes and supporters, butthe party is facing serious power wrangling.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n