Tension as PDP governors prepare to dump party ahead of 2019

Tension as PDP governors prepare to dump party ahead of 2019

- Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have concluded plans to dump the party

- The governors are mulling the idea of floating a new political party

- Talks are still ongoing on the governors’ idea

A report by New Telegraph indicates that governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are mulling the idea of floating a new party.

All serving PDP governors are loyal to the Makarfi faction

This is irrespective of the outcome of the appeal filed by the Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee, before the Supreme Court.

The caretaker committee had, last week, filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt division, which reinstated Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman.

All the PDP governors loyal to the Makarfi faction and have stayed on course in the leadership crisis that has factionalised the party since the May 21, 2016 national convention.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on NAIJ.com News App

According to the report, none of the governors would like to seek second term in office on the platform of the party. Seven out of the 10 PDP governors are in their first term in office.

“PDP is associated with corruption and most of the party members are no longer comfortable with the name. Discussions have reached an advanced level, even before the Court of Appeal judgement, to float an entirely new political party,” one of the governors said.

Adopting a new name for the party had generated heated debates at the several sittings of the Professor Jerry Gana-led strategy review and interparty affairs committee empanelled by the national caretaker committee.

A member of the 115-member committee disclosed that: “Some people say PDP’s name is so bad that we can’t win elections, that the name should be changed. But the consensus is that we should retain that name. It is the general opinion that the name remains solid even under APC.”

The committee, according to the member, recommended only a slight change in the party’s slogan while the name is still retained.

Another member of the committee however said formation of a new party is an option if the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government continues to frustrate the PDP’s revival through the courts.

But the governor said his colleagues were unanimous in floating a new political party and use the PDP structure, as a platform to contest the 2019 general elections.

His words: “We are aware of the antics of APC and we do not want it to continue to hold us down. We are working towards forming a new party; we have been discussing that.

“Nigerians don’t want to hear the PDP name again, and we don’t want to go into an election with a party that has bad image.”

Another governor stated that the option before the party is to either float entirely new political party or take over the existing one and change its name.

“If Makarfi wins at the Supreme Court, we will still rebrand the PDP. But in the event he loses, it makes the job much easier.

“We are considering the option of floating a new party or take over one of the fringe parties,” the governor said.

On his part, the former deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo said there are several options before the PDP under Makarfi, which, he said includes formation of a new party,

He said: “If we are moving, we are moving en masse. PDP is aware that APC will block any move by its members to register a new political party, hence the plan to use pseudonym and then tell its members to join.

“That is only if the appeal before the Supreme Court fails. But in the event that the appeal succeeds, the party will apply to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a change of name.”

READ ALSO: PDP records massive victories in elections in Gombe, Taraba and Rivers

However, spokesperson for the caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said there is no such plan to form another political party.

“There is nothing like that. Everybody is talking about it, but that is not the situation. What I can tell you is that we don’t have such plan to form any party,” Adeyeye said.

When asked what option is left for the party if the appeal fails at the Supreme Court, he answered: “Let’s wait for the appeal; we will cross the bridge when we get there.”