Blame game as PDP licks its wounds over presidential election loss

Had the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate won the March 28 election, the members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) would have claimed responsibility for the victory. But since the result of the poll was against PDP, there has been finger-pointing over who was responsible for the poor outing. Analysts have expressed fears that this may be the beginning of an end of the umbrella party, unless reasons prevail.

While explaining how the party blew the N8billion realised from sale of forms and justifying why the NWC should not resign by virtue of losing the presidential election, Olisa Metuh, its national publicity secretary, said the national leadership of the party did not handle the campaign. According to him, if the party leadership had coordinated the campaign, its candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, would have won the poll.

“We can’t be held responsible for the campaign that our advice was ignored,” he said.

Metuh also debunked allegation that the NWC embezzled campaign funds, blaming the rumour on “divisive elements” within the party.

“In the attempt to discredit the NWC, these elements pushed out series of misleading information to the unsuspecting public alleging that the party leadership mismanaged the presidential campaign funds, leading to the poor performance in the polls and as such NWC should be made to resign,” he said.

According to him, “When this wicked and baseless allegation was debunked by the NWC, which publicly clarified that it was not involved in the handling of the campaign and its funding, and that such were exclusively managed by the Presidential Campaign Organisation appointed by the President, these divisive elements in their desperation came up with another allegation claiming that the leadership embezzled funds belonging to the party.

“Even after the NWC also debunked this despicable allegation, showing that the party’s funds were judiciously appropriated for our state election campaigns, this group resorted to labelling the NWC with attempts to instigate President Jonathan, PDP governors and other well-meaning members of our party against the national leadership. This is in addition to recent sponsored publications accusing the NWC of corruption with claims that members shared monies generated from the sale of forms from aspirants for the general elections.”

However, Metuh admitted that each member of the executive received a minimum of N30million for “furniture, medical and other allowances accruable to members in the last three years.”

Some reports said Adamu Mu’azu, national chairman of the party, got about N100million.

Reacting to the revelation and Metuh’s defence, a member of the party, who claimed to be a legal practitioner, accused the party leadership of insensitivity, saying that it was greed that cost the party the presidential slot.

“We raised the issue when they were telling people to pay impossible amount of money for expression of interest and the nomination form. Many people with leadership qualities who meant well for the country were shut out from contesting because such individuals could not afford the amount; now what we hear is that the leadership of the party shared away the money, the sweat of others. To think of it, many of those who paid the huge nomination fees could not even win the primaries. To now hear that a few people are living big on the money that was squeezed out of them, can give someone psychological torture.

“I was told that somebody said that the PDP leadership allotted to themselves several millions of Naira each, claiming it was for their ‘accumulated allowances for three years. So, somebody wants to tell Nigerians that PDP, a ruling party had not paid its national leaders their allowances for three years? How can people be blatant in telling lies? Nigerians are yet to hear the last on the campaign funds,” the lawyer said.

A few days ago, the PDP Governors Forum under the chairmanship of Godswill Akpabio had asked the Mu’azu-led executive to resign for leading the party to defeat at the just-concluded general elections.

A few days ago, David Mark, outgoing president of the Senate, urged his fellow members of the PDP to “weep” no more and move on.

Bemoaning the bickering among the party members who trade blames over the failure of PDP to retain power at the centre, the Senate president, who is also senator-elect, and is likely coming back to be a floor member from his current Olympian height, said there “is no need weeping over lost opportunities or mistakes of yesterday.” According to him, “The failure of yesterday should be our lesson for a better today and a triumphant future.”

But it appears that Mark’s sermons did not sink properly into the consciousness of some leaders of the party. Were it so, Wale Oladipo, national secretary of the party, could not have reminded another chieftain of the party and its national vice-chairman in the South West, Bode George, of his alleged “divisive politics”.

George and some party members in the South West felt strongly that the national leadership of the party under Mu’azu did not deserve to retain its post after the disastrous March 28 outing, and consequently asked for the dissolution of the NWC.

Oladipo fired back, “It is indeed undermining and a clear breach of protocol the fact that a meeting of some leaders of the zone would be convened to discuss issues of the party’s presidential campaigns and the highest ranking national officers of the party from the zone were excluded.”

According to him, “This is in continuation of the apparent marginalisation of the National Working Committee and the party structure at all levels in the handling of the presidential campaigns.”

Rising from the ashes of increasing calls for his sack, Mu’azu, the other day, urged the PDP members to reinvent themselves, show great maturity and map out a strategy that will return the party to power in 2019.

Warning them not to play into the hands of the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, Mu’azu said: “The result of the 2015 presidential election is the elixir the PDP needs to reinvent itself and retake power in 2019 instead of wasting time, energy and resorting to mudslinging and blame game over the party’s failed bid to win a fourth consecutive presidential election victory.

“Stories spreading like wild fire in the social media about schisms in our party can only energise the incoming administration of the All Progressives Congress and their wish list that include the burial of the PDP.

“But we can shock them with our usual resilience and ability to turn the tables particularly as they are already developing a tottering ineptitude in their transition progression to power.”

But despite the olive branch held out by Mu’azu, his absence at the Tuesday’s inauguration of the 15-man post-election committee headed by Ike Ekweremadu, deputy Senate president has been described as a reflection of a party in tatters.

At the event that was boycotted by Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State governor; his counterparts in Abia and Gombe States, Theodore Orji and Ibrahim Dankwambo, respectively, Wale Oladipo, who spoke on behalf of Mu’azu said President Jonathan has ordered that all acts of “unwarranted attacks and counter-attacks” on members and leadership of the party should stop.

Responding, Ekweremadu, chairman of the Committee, gave the assurance that all shades of opinions will be heard, calling for an end to blame games by party stalwarts.

A cleric likened the discordant tunes and finger-pointing exercise in the PDP to the destructive behaviour of the people who conceived the idea of building a “Tower of Babel” to meet the Creator.

“The Bible story of the ‘Tower of Babel’ is repeating itself in the life of the PDP,” the cleric said.

According to him, “The PDP at a point felt it has arrived, so much that they began to equate themselves with God. For 16 years, the party ran the country into wilderness, yet bragging that it would continue to rule for 60 years. But what we are seeing now is that, like what happened at the ‘Tower of Babel’, where God showed his might by raining confusion in their midst, so much that the building project collapsed. It is possible that PDP may go that way, unless they humble themselves, by tendering an unreserved apology to the Nigerian people for plundering the country.”