When a man has many children, numerous grandchildren and a lot of descendants but just seven out of those children are erring, I don’t really think it’s something to lose sleep over. In a similar vein, if a child needs something from his parents, and such demand cannot be immediately met, that should not be a reason for the child to denounce or ostracize his parents. There is no better way to describe the continuous hassles between the Baraje-led faction of the People’s Democratic Party, best known as the new PDP and the mainstream PDP.
It is no more news that during the August 2013 special convention of the PDP in Abuja some party stalwarts including seven governors currently elected under the party’s platform staged a walk out. They complained about lack of internal democracy and other perceived personal ambition. According to leaders of the new PDP and the G-7 mainly drawn from Adamawa, Kano, Kwara, Rivers, Niger, Sokoto and Jigawa states, “not only has the Constitution of the party been serially violated by its Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and his co-travellers, but all the organs of the party have been rendered virtually ineffectual by a few people who act as though they are above the law. Unfortunately, it is obvious that that they get encouragement from the Presidency whose calculations are geared towards shutting out any real or imagined opposition ahead of the party’s presidential primaries for the 2015 elections.”
It is so amazing that members of the ruling party who have reaped from election rigging and other unconstitutional actions perpetrated by the same party are the ones now openly preach against impunity violation of constitutions. The ruling party, which all these governors have been part of, for more than a decade has been found culpable times without number when it comes to lack of internal democracy. I really don’t know why the sudden agitation to stop the President from exercising his constitutional right of contesting any office of his choice, come 2015. I am not in any way against the G-7 and its agenda but it is more of a trivial than salient issue.
Why not create your own party with a new constitution instead of engaging in legal struggles over the use of the same party slogan and logos. Why not move on with your own manifesto instead of trying to “save” the party you have already denounced from being hijacked. The government of the day on the other hand, should focus on vital national issues other than attacking the G-7 governors from all angles.
Instead of throwing banters and tantrums here and there in a bid to disrupt activities of the opposition, why not focus on improving lives of the masses that gave you their mandate? Perhaps government is so scared of the breakaway faction that it had to do everything possible to see dissident members either return or dispatch. There were noticeable uncomfortable developments from the imbroglio including the disturbing trends at Airport during solidarity rallies. In fact there are various accusations of flagrant violations of human right from all the factions in the crisis.
In a nutshell, I think the PDP splinter group should simply channel and settle their grievances internally, as no organisation exist without misunderstanding. Better still, since the differences seem to be non-negotiable as the President would surely contest in the next election and Bamanga Tukur is not willing to resign, the splinter should create register its own party with a new name, policy and precepts. More so, there is no crime deflecting to the opposition if their notions are in tandem with each other. As for the Presidency, there is still about fifteen months or so before the next election and who says that isn’t enough time to win back hearts of the masses previously let down by your inactions? University and polytechnic students are still at home, remember! Bad roads are still a common sight around the country, have you forgotten? The country is still vulnerable in terms of security. The poor masses are practically scrounging to survive. Isn’t that more important than in-fighting in the ruling parties? I wish to therefore call on all those involved in the unfortunate PDP crisis to either sheathe their swords or concentrate on providing good leadership to the electorates or on the alternative let them leave the scene for others that do not share in the idea of politics of bitterness and rancour.
Moshood Isah Sapele Street, Garki II, Abuja
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