A letter by a local chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suspending a former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, has opened new wounds and exposed the depth of the crack within the opposition party in the power state.
The letter contained the outcome of an emergency stakeholders’ meeting of Chanchanga Local Government Area, where the former governor hails from, where eight ward chairmen of the party out of the 11 wards, elders and party faithful were in attendance.
The stakeholders accused Aliyu of engaging in anti-party activities, alleging that he played a role in the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in all tiers of elections in the state as a sitting governor in 2015.
He was also accused of failure to attend stakeholders’ meetings and allegedly working to polarise and weaken the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
However, the North Central Zone caretaker committee said the suspension was inconsequential, noting that the local government chapter had no locus standi to take such action against a person of Aliyu’s status as a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party. But a few days later, the state chapter of the party endorsed the former governor’s suspension by the local government chapter, confirming that he worked against the party’s interest during the 2015 general elections.
The spokesman of the party in the state, Yahaya Usman, said leaders of the PDP in the three senatorial districts of the state reaffirmed their support for the suspension of the former governor for his role in the party’s defeat, especially in the presidential election.
The Party’s Chairman for Zone C, Malam Yahaya Ability, told 21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE in a telephone interview that the way the party lost in all tiers of elections during the 2015 polls was suspect.
“How could we have lost 100 per cent of all elective offices with a sitting governor in charge of things? We know the role he played, and we have been shouting ourselves hoarse over this but nobody took us seriously. Even monies released to prosecute the elections were diverted to aid the opposition, and this is outside the former governor’s personal contribution,” Malam Ability alleged.
Aliyu was to confirm his role in PDP’s presidential candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat in a recent statement when he alleged that PDP governors in the North worked against the aspiration of Jonathan because he (Jonathan) reneged on an earlier agreement.
“We acted in good spirit and argued our points based on principle and on the subsisting agreement we had with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. That agreement was written and accepted by all. We didn’t oppose Jonathan, but we were opposed to his insistence on a second term in office because the North would have lost out completely.
“It is, therefore, wrong for anyone to erroneously say that I, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, had opposed Goodluck Jonathan,” he explained.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had called for Aliyu’s sack from the party following the revelation, stating that as a leading opposition party in Nigeria, the PDP could not afford to accept acts of gross indiscipline and impunity because they might undermine its chances to wrest power from the APC in 2023.
However, whether the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP will hearken to Mike’s call remains to be seen.
How the crisis started
21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the current discontent in the party started preparatory to the state congress when the State Working Committee (SWC) led by Barrister Tanko Beji decided to return unopposed.The decision was supported by key elders, including a former Deputy Governor of the state, Zagbai Nuhu, and Senator Zainab Kure. The position of the elders, it was learnt, drew inspiration from the fact that such positions were allocated in the past with a sitting governor dictating the tune.
“It was a precedent set right from the time of Abdulkadir Kure which was applied by Babaginda Aliyu himself,” Zagbai pointed out.
21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE also learnt that the former governor himself endorsed Beji’s nomination when he (Beji) opted to have a go at the state chairmanship position for another term. Aliyu, a source said, backtracked overnight by moving his support to Muktar Ahmed from Suleja for the position.
“By the arrangement, the position was supposed to go to Bosso where Tanko Beji hails from, and the former governor has been part of the arrangement from the beginning,” Yahaya Ability noted.
Botched congress
The consequent bad blood the situation generated affected the state congress slated for September, 2020, as thugs suspected to be loyal to the two camps disrupted the exercise.
The congress committee Chairman, Muhammed Imam, had to issue a statement postponing the exercise, and since the incident, the national secretariat has been trying to resolve the crisis without any appreciable headway.
21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the effort of the Bukola Saraki-led reconciliation committee to bring both factions together hit the rocks.
The committee had after an interface with the groups and stakeholders recommended that the two contestants for the chairmanship position step down to allow for the emergence of neutral candidates.
However, while the Muktar group agreed with the suggestion, the Beji faction viewed the move as an attempt to “satisfy wishful interest” and vowed to contest the development in court even if it was to “strengthen the party’s constitution and obedience to the rule of law and democratic tenets.”
Since the mediation failed, the two factions have continued to operate independent of each other, while a caretaker committee holds sway in the secretariat.
Why party structure means a lot to Aliyu
Credible sources said reclaiming the party structure was one battle the former governor must win in order to relaunch himself into the mainstream ahead of 2023 as he is said to be nursing a senatorial ambition and hence needs loyalists at the helm of the party in order to actualise his dream.
Although Beji has been a loyal lieutenant from the beginning, there are fears that the Gbagyi factor may play out against an Aliyu candidacy when the chips are down. Beji is of the Gbagyi stock and commands a lot of respect among his people and he wields so much influence in the party hierarchy in the state. He is also said to belong to a powerful caucus which influences decisions at the headquarters.
Babangida Aliyu reacts
Reacting, the former governor through his media aide, Bala Bitrus, said it was wrong to say he was behind the crisis within the PDP in Niger State.
In an interview with 21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE, Bitrus said Ahmed Mukhtar did not need anybody to prop him up to stand for any elective position in the party.
“Babangida Aliyu is not the cause of the crisis in the party. Rather those who don’t have the liver and maturity to contest for the position are the ones causing crisis in the party and are crying wolf,” he stated.
He noted that Aliyu was the leader of the party in the state and a committed member who was on the BOT of the party and a member of the party’s National Executive Council (NEC).
He said those who were uncomfortable with his high profile were scheming to discredit him.
He further said it was wrong for anyone to say that the former governor was out to destroy the party, adding that as a committed party man and democrat, there was no way he could work against it’s interest?
“He is aiming higher for greater roles as a key player in Nigeria. He has all it takes for greater roles, even for higher callings,” Bitrus said.
On the former governor’s alleged senatorial ambition, Bitrus averred that it was wrong to cage him or listen to those who were limiting him to the National Assembly as, “He has lots to offer in service to Nigeria his fatherland and to humanity.”