My Agenda For PDP..New Chairman

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday opened a new chapter in its history with the ratification, by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC), of former Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, as its national chairman.

Mu’azu, who emerged the consensus candidate after a series of meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan, governors elected on the platform of the party and other party bigwigs, the last of which ended in the wee hours of Monday, succeeded Alhaji Bamanga Tukur who “stepped aside” last Thursday.

Shortly after he took the oath of office, Mu'azu promised to set about achieving reconciliation in the party that has been enmeshed in a debilitating crisis since last year.

At the NEC meeting that was presided over by the party's Deputy National Chairman, Mr. Uche Secondus, the president gave some insight into why the party settled for Mu’azu from about 10 contenders who were touted as being in the race.
Party chiefs, including governors, also took turns to admonish their chairman to avoid the banana peel that led to the sudden exit of some of his predecessors from office and to work for the reconciliation of aggrieved members.

The president told the party leaders that Mu’azu was chosen despite the legion of members who had indicated interest in becoming the national chairman of PDP because of his ability to build bridges.

According to him, “We needed someone who can build the party, who can reach out to the people and who is friendly with the people. Someone who can bring the party together, someone who can build bridges.

“I want to commend all those who showed interest and I can tell you that they were all eminently qualified. A lot of things have been said about the new national chairman. He is not known as someone with tribal or religious sentiments.

“Your religion should not affect your thinking. I knew you as a governor and I can say to some extent that I know you. We need somebody who can build the party and who would not resort to fighting every time.”

Jonathan attributed the infighting among party leaders in some states to the reasons why PDP lost some states during elections, adding: “We lost because the leaders failed to agree among themselves.”

The president, who tasked Mu’azu to reduce tension among PDP members, said it was not easy deciding on him as the party chair because many of the party’s governors did not want the next chairman to come from their states to reduce friction between them and the chairman, as had happened previously.

He said: “Our governors didn’t want their chairman to come from their states. We even thought of taking the office to states without PDP governors. But we are happy that history has been made today. I want to thank members of our party for what has been done today without anyone going to court to get injunctions and all that.”

Also, Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, urged Mu’azu to make reconciliation his primary task.

Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, told Mu’azu that the first thing to ensure his success in office was that he should avoid “the banana peel that affected the relationship between former national chairmen of the party and the governors”.

He said: “Please try to avoid the banana peel that has affected past national chairmen of the party and the state governors.”

He blamed those he described as political jobbers and those who do not wish the party well for the crisis in the party, especially between the governors and the national secretariat of the party.

He said it was uncommon for the governor of a PDP state to nominate one of the state indigenes as national chairman of the party, pledging a better relationship between the governors and the party chairman.

“I want to reiterate that the governors are prepared to cooperate with the national chairman,” he said.
He also told Mu'azu to make the return of the five defected governors of the party to PDP as his first major task.

He assured the gathering of the commitment of the party’s governors to ensure that Jonathan wins a second term in 2015.

He also urged the new national chairman to recognise the governors as party leaders at state levels while the president remains the party leader at the national level.

Earlier, Secondus who had presided over the NEC meeting said the meeting was in line with the provisions of the party's constitution, specifically Section 45(2), which authorised him to act in the absence or resignation of the national chairman and Section 47 (6) that mandates the party to appoint a chairman whenever there is a vacancy.

With this, he called on Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, to nominate the new chairman of the party and moved a motion to appoint the chairman.

In moving the motion, Yuguda said although he had a misunderstanding with Mu'azu, he stressed that it was over. The motion was seconded by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba.

At this stage, Secondus then called for a counter-motion, but there was none.
In his acceptance speech, the new national chairman said in the last few months, PDP had occupied the front pages of newspapers with negative screaming headlines while political analysts had predicted that its end had come.
But he expressed satisfaction that the party had proved the doomsayers wrong and had reinvented itself with recourse to its internal mechanism for conflict resolution.

He said: “Over the years, the PDP has developed its home-grown internal conflict resolution mechanisms. So when false prophets were prophesying its collapse, insiders knew that the crisis was a storm in a teacup.

“Today, we have proven to the whole world that an instant cure for what looked like a terminal disease is available in the party. Indeed, we have demonstrated our political maturity and sagacity as the number one party in Africa.

“There is no doubt that all has not been well with our party. However, the crisis that has rocked the party is a common phenomenon with large parties. Any party the size of PDP would definitely experience such challenges from time to time.

“As I take over as chairman of our great party, I want to assure you of my determined efforts and total commitment to restoring the lost glory of the PDP with your total support.

“I have helplessly watched the dwindling fortunes of our party from 2003 to date. From controlling a record 28 states in 1999, down to 23 and currently 18. This situation is unacceptable and must change. The good people of Nigeria still love the PDP and will continue to love and vote the PDP as long as we meet their expectations. Nigeria is PDP and PDP is Nigeria.”

He however warned party members, stating: “We cannot and will not condone questionable primary elections.”

He also promised PDP governors that he would not do anything to jeopardise their control of party structures in their states, an action which had pitted some of his predecessors against their state governors and eventually led to their untimely exit from office.

It was the face-off between a former PDP national chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, and governor of his home state of Enugu, Mr. Sullivan Chime, that eventually led to his departure from office.

Also, the supremacy battle between Tukur and Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Murtala Nyako, over the control of the party structures in the state set off a chain of reactions that finally consumed the former party chairman and Nyako’s exit from the party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).