…Sambo’s chances dim
The mammoth crowd that graced President Goodluck Jona¬than’s declaration to contest the 2015 presi¬dential elections last Tuesday, notwithstand¬ing, there are clear in¬dications that all is not well with his aspiration. Not leaving anything to chance, leaders of the party have gone to work to checkmate whatappears to be the president’s current most challenging politi¬cal ‘banana peel’ to his re-election bid.
The last ward and Local Government Congresses of the party have exposed the party’s under belly and set it and the president’s ambition on the path of distress.
Al least, 6 frontline states, where in basic cold calculations the president is inured of Landslide votes in the elections are up in flames, with the conflagra¬tion threatening to spill out of control to consume all the party’s interests in the states.
The affected states include, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Delta, Rivers and the President’s home state of Bayelsa.
As the crises in these states simmers, the style and nature of the politics of the Vice- president Arch Nenadi Sambo have come into full focus, threatening to abort his political marriage with Jonathan.
Rattled by the develop¬ments, presidency offi¬cials, and members of the National Working Commit¬tee, NWC, of the party are working round the clock to ease the eruptions. Part of the measures being taken is the immediate dissolution of the integration commit¬tees set up by the party in the affected states. The governors, who are in the thick of the crises are also being implored to “put on hold” further measures concerning the congresses and their planned succes¬sors in office, pending an upcoming meeting with the president and the party’s NWC”. Secret fact finding committees have also been dispatched to the affected states to effectively douse the inferno.
The committees have been empowered to make “necessary and desir¬able promises of brighter prospects and rehabilitation on behalf of the party to the combatants to extract proven commitments to peace and stability”. Lead¬ers of the party are growing grey hairs particularly on the situation in Enugu and Bayelsa, which are not only considered crucial to the president’s ambi¬tion, but whose crises have taken dangerous dimensions recently. Sunday Sun further learnt from a source who is an insider in the emerging imbroglio, that the commit¬tee was charged not to issue threats, or even sanction the belligerents no matter the weight of intransigence or nuisance value in order not to play into the waiting hands of the opposition. The general thinking is that the crises is like a fly perch¬ing on the scrotum which should be handled with utmost care and caution lest the fly is smashed alongside the scrotum.
A last ditch effort to arrest the drift in Enugu at the highest level last week failed to work as the parties to the conflict reneged and went back to the trenches. The leaders of the two camps in the state, Deputy senate President, Ike Ekwer¬emadu, and governor Sul¬livan Chime, who are both nursing Senatorial ambitions for Enugu West are core loyalists of the President. The presidency last Thurs¬day, opted for a middle passage way by tactically refraining from throwing its weight behind any of them, allowing them to test their strength on the field with an unwritten golden rule that the victor and the vanquished must accept the outcome. Tacitly, the party machinery has been handed over to the governors, but the situation in Enugu, which apart from being one of the earliest to break out, is unique because of the personages involved and the level of their co-operation, support and friendship with the president. That measure has so far not resolved the impasse, as both camps are still throwing open more flanks of discord.
In Bayelsa, Governor Seriake Dickson’s second term ambition and the reluctance of the presidency to endorse it is the major catalyst. Although Jonathan is lukewarm about it, his wife Dame Patience, who brought the governor to power in 2011 has already drafted in the president’s Senior Special Assistant on domestic and social events, Dr Wari Pomowei Dudafa.
Dickson, who is yet to figure out how he offended the first lady, has resolved to fight back, thus muddling the waters. In a deft move to seize full control of the party Machinery in the state at all levels, he threw up a creative zoning formulae for elective offices in 2015, which effectively shut out all serving national and state House of Assembly members. Only two state lawmakers survived the putsch. They are the major¬ity leader, Peter Akpe, (Sag¬bama 2) and Daniel Igali (Southern Ijaw 3). National Assembly members who were stopped in their tracks include Senator Emmanuel Paulker, (Bayelsa Central) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa west) and Senator Clever Ikisikpo (Bayelsa East). Others are Foingha Jephthah (Nembe/Brass) Henry Ofongo (Sputhern Ijaw) Warman Ogonba (Ye¬negoa/Koloknma, Dr Stella Dorgu (Sagbama/Ekeremor, and Nadu Karibo, (og¬bia). These are adjudged hard core loyalists of the president. The development deepened the crises in the party in the state as all the lawmakers, except Dorgu conducted parallel congress¬es, in apparent bid to fight Dickson.
The National headquar¬ters of the party is keeping sealed lips on the develop¬ment, obviously watching the body language of the presidency. So far, the presi¬dency is yet to intervene, or react, thus keeping everyone involved in the crises guess¬ing and somehow confused.
In Neighbouring Rivers state, alleged attempts to impose former Minister of state for Education by the first lady Dame Patience, is behind the crises. Again, Jonathan is keeping mum as more frontiers in the crises open by the day.The attempt to impose Wike has ruffled many political feathers. as more frontiers in the crises open by the
16 governorship aspirants of the party boycotted the last ward and local Govern¬ment congresses in protest over the alleged endorsement. But Wike’s camp absolves the first lady and points at the Rivers state governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for fuelling the rumpus. Amaechi is of the rival All Progressives Congress, APC.
The 16 governorship aspirants who boy¬cotted the congress are Engr Beks Dagogo, -Jack, Barrister Dumo lulu -Briggs, Major Lancellot Anyanya, Engr Samson Ngere¬bara Barrister Nimi Walson – Jack, Senator Lee Maeba, Hon Gabriel Pidomson and Dr Silva Opusunju. Others are Hon Bernard Mikkoo, Chief (Hon) Pawana, Samuel Horsfall, Hon Oseleye Dennis Ojuka, Prince Tonye Princewill, Capt Nwankwo Sun¬day, Prof Don Baridam, Hon Tamunosisi Gogo – Jaya, and Abie Bob Abbey – Hart (Esq). A statement by their spokesperson Setonye Ijuye Dagogo, stated that they were deceived into believing that there would be level playing field for all of them. The state leadership of the party which is loyal to Wike, was accused of breaching the pro¬cedures leading to the delegates ward and local Government Congresses.
Another grouse of the aspirants was the legality of the State Working Committee, SWC, and alleged assault on them by hired thugs.
“As a group, we had raised issues about the legality of the SWC, and wrote a memo to the integration committee set up by the NWC in this regard”. Sunday Sun learnt that if the crises is not resolved earnestly and soon, the aspirants may defect enmasse to other parties with their supporters, and work against the interest of the president in the 2015 presidential elections. If this occurs, coupled with the growing influence of gov-ernor Amaechi’s APC in the state, the Wings of the President may be clipped.
In cross River, the burgeoning troubles in the party are creating wide scale disaf¬fections, creating ripples and threatening to thaw the presiden’ts positive profile in the state.
Already, the governor Iiyel Imhoke, who is believed to be working in concert with the top party hierarchy has wielded the big stick by sealing off the party secretariat, and suspending a governorship aspirant and 10 others.
In Ebonyi, the party has broken into two – the governor and the others.
The ward/LG congresses committee sent to the state walked into a war front. The governor was frontally challenged; leading to embarrassing situations.
Ebonyi has the same polar party status like Cross River. The degenerating situation may work for the PDP in the two states, as there is no party in the two states that has what it takes to challenge the PDP. Defec¬tors to a new, fledgling party may not have enough time to build and energise it before the elections next year.
But the growing disaffection may have the effect of reducing the Presidents vote tal¬ly, and jeopardizing his chances of outright victory at the first ballot. The governors of the two states may have been given a “wild card” to deal with the situation as they deem fit, as they are roundly perceived as acolytes of the president and loyal party members.
“The party is not losing sleep over what is happening in Cross River and Ebonyi. They are core PDP states. No crises in the party will make PDP lose the states. Trouble shooting in the states is just to ensure nor¬malcy, not that there is any cause for alarm” Sunday Sun was told.
The crises in the party in Abia and Delta have the imprimatur of governors Theodore Orji, and Emmanuel Uduaghan. Their pref¬erences for particular governorship aspirants have pitched them against other individuals and interest groups.
The two states are perceived to be highly politically conscious. In Delta state alone, over 27 governorship aspirants are on the field. The vast majority of them have intimi¬dating financial war chest and other arsenals to vie for the position.
There is no strong party waiting in the wings to receive them, and time is too short for them to make any meaningful impact on the platform of a new party.
The battle ground for all the belligerents is therefore centered in the party, with every¬thing being thrown-in to clinch the ticket of the party.
Sambo in the mix.
While the party and the presidency are grappling with the odious affairs in the six states of the South East and South-South, there are insinuations putting Vice President Nenadi Sambo in the ring for the sweep¬ing anti-Jonathan sentiments in the North. Although the problems in the region are convoluted ranging from ethno-religion, insurgency, zoning mantra, and other al¬lied factors, critics of the vice president insist that he has done very little to change the equilibrium. More worrisome, is that though he is lukewarm in this direction, the president seems to be at peace with him, fuelling the understanding that he may pair with him again in the elections next year. A major grouse of his critics is that through his inactions, he has exposed Jonathan to his ad¬versaries in the North as he has had to deal with them directly.
As the number one political leader of the North, he has not shown the initiative and drive to cushion the biting effects of the caustic attacks on the regime from the North.
Atiku Abubakar played that role for Olusegun Obasanjo when he was vice presi¬dent before they fell out. Jonathan did it for late Musa Yar’Adua, during the restiveness in the Niger Delta. Even Dr Alex Ekwueme did all in his powers to rein-in the South East for Shehu Shagari, and the National party of Nigeria, NPN, at a time the late Dr Nnnamdi Azikiwe and his Nigeria Peoples party, NPP, were the ‘sweet stakes’.
A review of Sambo’s ascendancy in politics shows that Senator Ahmed Ma¬karfi made him governor to stop Suleiman Hunkuyi and Yusuf Hamisu Mai Rago. He was not initially gunning for the seat.
Among other things, he has been ac¬cused of lacking in essential influence and vast contacts, preferring to play safe and moderate politics. Interestingly, these were the attributes that attracted him to Jonathan and facilitated his selection as his deputy in 2010.
“Some governors in the North see him as their mates and even inferior to them politically, despite his number two citizen¬ship Sunday Sun was told by one of his critics, who prefers anonymity. As the APC continues to capitalize on the aforemen¬tioned factors to gain ground in the North, he has failed to reach out to the kingpins and the hotbed of APC politics in Kano and Sokoto, at least to impress on them that their actions portend more ruinous effects on him than Jonathan. If he did, the impact has not been noticed.
Jonathan had to take the bull by the horn and reached out to Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido, former Military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (Retd), Niger state governor, and Chairman of the Northern governors Forum, Aliyu Babangida. His reconciliation with former central bank governor, Salisu Lamido Sanusi was at the instance of the former.
The aggrieved supporter of Jonathan and Sambo’s critic has this to say.
“It is not too late for Sambo to do a reality check in terms of influence, contacts and rating in each state of the North. Unlike Atiku he has loose contacts with leading traditional rulers, top-ladder politicians and military brass. Jonathan as an easy-going politician would not have stopped him, and this would have paved the way for him to build his political empire”.
With the emerging push to oust him from running with Jonathan, there are no clear indications yet that Jonathan is ready and willing to jettison him. Obviously pouring cold water on the criticisms, Jonathan has charged all the leaders of the party in the North to go to the field and “pull the chest¬nut out of the fire”, as it were. Jonathan is said to be more pleased with his loyalty, and non-controversial nature than the lack of ag-gression and influence which his detractors peddle to get him off the presidential track. Having removed the burden of the North from Sambo’s shoulders, the new game plan of massive injection of leaders into the Northern battlegrounds may have come in handy. But will it save the day for Jonathan?
Source: Sun
