The U-turn of PDP. By Okwo Oko Onah

It is no longer a story, the people's Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary had come and gone, the rhetoric out there at the moment is not what borders some of us as masses of this country, what is common on most lips of Nigerians is the zoning of the political parties. Nigerians are gradually been driven away from the agitation for good governance, personality, leadership traits, backgrounds of aspirants, and other negative vices like hunger in the land, insecurity, decayed and outdated public service laws, fuel scarcity, institutional failures, and all the other gamut’s that constitute very better candidate for the next president. Unlike our present politicians, what should matter most now to us should be, what binds and tightens us as people but not what matters most to the politician's interests. Nigerian elites are not concerned about the youths of this country that, are home for more than three months because of ASSU strikes. The legislators are not in the hurry to pass legislation that will criminalize politicians that loot the country, and they are not also worried if the power sector is in its limbo after several years of pumping billions to their political cronies in twisted privatization schemes without corresponding power to the masses. What drive most of our present Corp of leaders is power grappling.

Nigerians were assuming, that “the PDP” having been in the opposition in the last eight years should have learned their lessons and been prepared to return to the Aso Rock while taking advantage of the falling leadership of the All Progressive Party (APC). But like a leopard spot, the Opposition Party has refused to brush its skin again. Its actions have sounded like a broken record, PDP has continued to repeat its shenanigans against Nigerians. Just before its National convention that brought in the new National Party Chairman and its EXCO members, the general outlook of the party directions was that the party was going to respect and keep to its zoning principles as enshrined in its party constitution which led to the doing away of its former National party Chairman Chief Uche Secondus which is from the South. Since the inception of the political Party, it is not been seen that the National Chairman of the Party and its Presidential candidate are from the same region of the country In this post I has list all past and present PDP National Chairmen in Nigeria from its inception in 1998 till date. Dr. Alex Ekwueme (1998) Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was the first chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was also the first elected Vice-President of Nigeria. He is a founding member of the party. Chief Solomon Lar (1998-1999) Solomon Lar was a Nigerian politician and a founding member of the PDP. He occupied various public posts while he was alive and was even the former governor of Plateau state. Chief Barnabas Gemade (1999-2001) under President Obasanjo from South Barnabas Gemade hails from Benue state. He has held various positions and is a serving senator for Benue North East constituency under the PDP platform. Chief Audu Ogbeh (2001-2005) North Central under President Obj from South Although, Audu Ogbeh served as a minister of Agriculture under the Buhari APC led administration, he was among the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party. He resigned as chairman of the PDP due to criticism from Obasanjo on how he handled the Anambra political crisis. Col. Ahmadu Ali (2005-2008) North Central under the president from South Ahmadu Ali served the Nigerian army and was the first Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He was also the former minister of Education and headed the National Working Committee of the party. Prince Vincent Ogbulafor (2008-2010) South east under President Yarau’dua North West Vincent Eze Ogbulafor was the National Secretary of the party before he was elected chairman. Due to financial recklessness, he was forced to resign. Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo (2010)- South east still under President Yara’dua northwest A one time elected governor of Enugu state, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo is a Nigerian politician who had been the Secretary General of the PDP, before he headed the party as its chairman. Dr. Haliru Mohammed (2010) under President GEJ a southern He acted as acting chairman and was former minister of communications during the Obasanjo/Atiku administration. Alhaji Kawu Baraje (2011-2014) still under Obansajo before Yarau’dua became president. He was also a founding member of the party. Dr. Bamanga Tukur (2012-2014) North East President GEJ from Southern He is currently the president of the Africa Business Roundtable and served as a minister under the Sani Abacha’s regime. In 2012, he became the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Adamu Mu’azu (2014-2015) North east under President GEJ Southern Mu’azu was the former governor of Bauchi state. It was during his tenure a PDP chairman that Buhari won the presidential elections. It was alleged that he worked for the opposition to achieve victory at the polls. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (2015-2016)-Northeast under GEL Southern Although he is a member of APC, he once headed the PDP National Working Committee as its acting chairman. He was the former governor of Borno state and a former senator. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (2015-2016)-North-west President Jonathan South South He is a member of the party and served as caretaker chairman of the party. During his time, he and Ali Modu Sheriff were always at logger heads on who to occupy the party’s seat. Uche Secondus (2017 – 2022)-South south with Atiku Abubakar as it's Presidential aspirant from North east. The former chairperson of the party is Uche Secondus. Although, he was being suspended by a competent court, the party had carried out another election to replace him. Iyorchia Ayu (2022 – date) North Central and aspirant, Atiku Abubakar northeast. From the above list , the National chairmen that has been elected or choose by the PDP since inception,they was not a time that , both the Presidential aspirant or it's seating national chairman come from the same zone. Why the sudden change of arrangement, and if the party was hoping of making it's president from the North why did not gave the it's national chairman to the south. I think the PDP has breached its own convention by making a sharp U-turn which did not reflect the ideology of the Center-rightist the party had stood for all the years. I may not be far from the fact, that the eleven million votes that some of the party strategists felt chosen Atiku will give to the party would be a difficult reality as the action of the Party has demonstrated nepotic pointers against the regional block of the Southeast and co to have been a live wire of the party in it's eight of opposition.