The
main opposition party in Nigeria, PDP is making frantic efforts to
recover members from the ruling All Progressives Congress ahead of the
2019 general election.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party is wooing members of the
ruling All Progressives Congress in the National Assembly with automatic
tickets, it was reliably learnt on Saturday.
Many members of the APC caucus at the National Assembly were said
to be currently afraid that governors of their respective states were
after their seats, making their chances of getting their return tickets
slimmer.
The lawmakers, it was gathered, believed President Muhammadu Buhari
would intervene in the intra-party crises across the states as the
national leadership of the APC was alleged to be favourably disposed to
the governors.
One of the aggrieved APC senators told SUNDAY PUNCH on condition of
anonymity that the governors used their influence in the party against
the political interests of National Assembly members from their states.
The source said, “The only person who can avert defections
(from the APC to other parties) in the National Assembly is the
President. All the crises that will lead to the defections are happening
in the states. The President will not be safe when the defectors move
to the opposition and form a camp, even if it is for just one week.
“The issue is that many governors have problems with their
senators and the other party is wooing senators with tickets. Going by
the fact that many of the APC senators came from the PDP, they are most
likely to go back. In the worst case, APC might turn out to become the
minority party in the National Assembly soon.”
When asked if the tickets being offered by the PDP would be automatic for APC defectors, the senator said, “It is.”
Another APC senator, who also spoke to one of our correspondents in
confidence, explained that first-term governors were planning to
replace the current National Assembly members with their loyalists and
political allies, while the second-term and outgoing governors would
hijack senatorial seats from the current occupants.
The senator added, “The governors want to bring in their ‘boys’
because in 2015, both the governors and the senators were on the same
platform; all of them were contesting positions, so there was no boy and
master. But now, because those governors have made some money and built
structures for themselves, they want to replace the senators either
with their secretary to state government or their commissioners or their
chief of staff.
“In the case of the second-term governors, they want to come
over (to the Senate) themselves. As it is with the APC today, the
President appears to be the only person who can solve this problem; the
governors cannot and the party itself cannot.”
Confirming the development, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce (PDP Bayelsa)
told SUNDAY PUNCH om Saturday that the National Chairman of the PDP,
Prince Uche Secondus, specifically mandated him to ensure the return of
former PDP members in the Senate to the opposition party.
When asked if it was true that the former ruling party was offering
automatic tickets to aggrieved APC members, Murray-Bruce said, “Yes,
it is true. We welcome them 100 per cent with open arms. They should
come and join us. We miss them; we love them and they should all come
back. Even those who were not with us, we will take everybody.”
The senator was asked if the issues that forced the defectors out of the PDP had been resolved.
He said, “All have been resolved. The chairman has promised me
and I have promised them that not only have the issues been resolved,
they will be part of the policy decisions.
“The chairman has mandated me to tell them that they will be
part of the decision-making process, going forward. All the problems
have been resolved. The chairman is very accommodating and he wants
everybody back. He has mandated me to tell them all to come back.”
We’ll do everything legitimate to return to power, says PDP
In his reaction, Secondus said the national leadership of the party
would do everything possible within the law to return to power in 2019.
Already, he said reconciliation was ongoing among its members,
adding that the PDP remained the best option for the county at the
moment.
Secondus told SUNDAY PUNCH that the party was not discussing the issue of tickets yet.
He stated, “We are talking to everyone, those who left the party before and those who do not belong to the party.
“This is not the time to be talking about automatic tickets or
not. Rather, we should all be concerned about how to rescue the country
from the claws of incompetent hands.
“Is there anyone in the country who is not feeling the pain?
Is the market for the PDP members different from that of the APC
members? Are those lining up in the queues at petrol stations members of
a particular political party? Is electricity being diverted to a
particular zone of the country?
“As for us, we are discussing with everybody. We want everyone
back under the umbrella so that we can escape further beating by the APC
acidic rain.”
Obasanjo’s ‘third force’ intensifies membership drive
Meanwhile, it was gathered that as the PDP has started working to
get more members of the National Assembly into its fold, former
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement has also
intensified efforts to persuade the lawmakers to join its fold.
SUNDAY PUNCH had exclusively reported last week that the former
President had reached out to some members of the National Assembly who
were considering joining the coalition.
It was learnt that last week, the coalition intensified efforts to
woo the lawmakers, while some legislators were discretely involved in
the membership drive for the group.
A reliable source in the CNM said the group had opened a website and asked Nigerians to register there.
But investigations showed that many members of the National
Assembly members were undecided on what to do about Obasanjo’s
coalition.
In the House of Representatives, it was gathered that the lawmakers
had opted to adopt a wait-and-see approach as events unfold in the
country’s political landscape ahead of the 2019 general elections
scheduled to hold in 11 months.
Those who voiced their opinions on the coalition were divided over
the relevance or viability of the movement as a possible anchor for the
next President in 2019.
One member said, “What is happening is all politics. Obasanjo,
who is talking, has led this country twice before now. He couldn’t fix
the country before leaving.
“So, when he is spearheading a new group to produce a
president, you have to be careful jumping on the ship. We don’t know
where he is headed for now.”
Another member, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, stated
that it would be “suicidal to hurriedly leave the known to the unknown.”
He said, “We are following the group; let us see how it pans
out. If it is indeed the third force, it will only be a matter of months
for us to know. Politicians know when to move out of an existing
political party in their thousands.”
A member from Ogun State, Mr. Isiaka Ibrahim, told SUNDAY PUNCH
that he was waiting for the direction of his Governor, Mr. Ibikunle
Amosun, and the people of his constituency on a new political
development in the state.
Ibrahim stated, “As I am speaking to you, I am a full member of the All Progressives Congress. That is my party.
“The people I represent in Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency of
Ogun State are members of the APC. My governor is a member of the APC.
“These people have not told me that there is any new direction yet. So, I am with my party, the APC.”
Asked whether he knew there was any synergy between Obasanjo and
Amosun which could galvanise the people of the state to join the
coalition, Ibrahim replied that associating with Obasanjo did not imply
that the governor would defect to the ex-President’s movement.
But a member from Cross River State, Mr. Bassey Ewa, praised Obasanjo to the high heavens, saying the coalition was the “best idea introduced in our politics in recent times.”
Ewa disclosed that he would gladly join the group and help in mobilising massive support for it.
He added, “The idea is fantastic. I am offering myself to be a member. I will mobilise support massively for the group.
“The current administration of President Buhari has only set
this country back many years. All the gains of the past have been
eroded.
“Look at the state of the economy; industries are shutting down
and no new reasonable jobs have been created in almost three years.
“Millions are out of jobs because the government is deficient
in ideas. So, I tell you, I will be deeply involved with the coalition.”
A member from Ebonyi State, Mr. Igariwey Iduma-Enwo, also hailed Obasanjo, saying such a group should be encouraged to flourish.
He stated, “Chief Obasanjo merely articulated the obvious bankruptcy and contradictions of the Buhari administration.
“As a former Head of State with military background, he best
understands the consequences of the burgeoning centrifugal fault lines
in the social fabric of this country (accentuated by recent killings
across the country), with the obvious national security implications.”
A lawmaker from Edo State, Mr. Johnson Agbonayinma, however, dismissed Obasanjo’s group.
Agbonayinma, who distanced himself from the coalition, claimed that it was another ‘third term’ ploy by the former President.
He added, “It is another third-term agenda; that third-term that Obasanjo failed to get in 2007, he wants it in another way.
“The so-called third force is a group that will be loyal to
Obasanjo when in power. He wants to remain in charge of political
affairs in this country perpetually.
“Nigerians should open their eyes and be wary of his ploy; by rejecting this third force.”
Also, another Rep from Kogi State, Mr. Karimi Sunday, urged Nigerians to steer clear of the coalition.
He stated, “It will not change anything. We are being led into another form of APC.
“What we have as APC today is a coalition of all manner of persons and groups. See where it has landed Nigeria.
“So, when you say a new coalition, it will lead Nigeria to the
same confusion; no progress. In fact, this movement will throw this
country into more serious political turmoil.
“Nigerians should forget it and focus on preparing for the 2019 polls, vote the APC out of power.”
APC, PDP are vessels of darkness, says CNM
In another development, the CNM said it would soon metamorphose to a
real political party after many people must have joined the movement.
It said the movement would be the best alternative third force
against the ruling APC and the PDP which it described as vessels of
darkness.
Speaking with journalists after the maiden visit of the movement in
Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Friday, the Ondo State Coordinator of
the CNM, Mr. Demola Ijabiyi, said the movement had yet to become a
political party.
Some of the politicians in attendance at the meeting included
members of the ruling APC, PDP, Social Democratic Party and the Alliance
for Democracy from across the 18 local government areas of the state.
Ijabiyi stated, “The APC and the PDP are vessels of darkness;
we are bringing people to light, as nobody will like to remain in
darkness. There is the need to liberate ourselves from the bondage of
these exploiters, who have no solution to the problems of the country.
“For now, we are not a political party, but after collating the
views of the movement as a formidable mass movement of people in all
sectors of life, the decisions of leaders of the coalition will
metamorphose into a political party.”
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