OBJ VS PDM

By Christie Oby Ndukwe

Publisher/Editor-In-Chief

The battle over who succeeds President Obasanjo has taken a new dimension as some powerful forces have realigned with the aim of tilting the mindset of the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to favor the hurried aspiration of the Governor of Katsina State, Umaru Musa Yaradua, who is not known to possess the political clout and will to govern a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria. But the man seems to have one thing going for him, his name-Yaradua. Gov. Umaru Shehu Yaradua did not just emerge as governor of Katsina State on his own stead rather on the goodwill of his late brother, Shehu Musa Yaradua who was killed in Abacha’s gaulag. The simple truth is that the younger Yaradua is trying to reap from where he did not sow and this seems to be working for him. Prior to his emergence as governor in 1999, Gov. Umaru had no previous political experience but he got the ticket based on sentiments for his late brother. Late Shehu Musa Yaradua was the second in command during Obasanjo’s first outing as Military Head of State after the untimely demise of late Gen. Murtala Mohammed. Yaradua was the leader of the Peoples Democratic Movement, a very powerful political group that has consistently remained relevant even after his death. The PDM boasts of highly influential politicians with guts and that was part of the reason why he was convicted for a phantom coup plot by the late junta, Gen. Sani Abacha. Yaradua was poisoned at the Abakiliki prisons while serving his jail term.  When he died, the structure he left behind was inherited by the Vice President, Atiku Abubakar who galvanized the members and formed what is today known as the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, alongside the group of G-34 led by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme.  

Though there seemed to be cracks within the group as one of its influential members, Chief Tony Anenih  leaving, the fact remains that the PDM is still very much around and is about the only political structure built by any politician which has lasted the test of time. Obasanjo emerged with the support of the group though not a member. He has actually within eight years of his reign as President and leader of his Party been able to assert his supremacy by hijacking the PDP from its founding fathers. But what remains for him to do is to establish his own political structure which will be able to consolidate on his achievements while also giving him a measure of control n the Party after he has left office as President on May 29, 2007. The inability of the President to get an extension of his tenure for another four years or even less could be traced to the absence of a strong force to coerce the political classs towards heeding to his demands. Not even the President’s Mr. Fix it, Chief Tony Anenih could fix the third term. It is o record that Vice President Atiku Abubakar alongside his supporters from the PDM spearheaded the failure of the plot to for tenure extension. While the group had a field day, the President’s supporters were not united in their struggle owing to lack of cohesion which could be attributed to the fact that they do not belong to the same political structure as the case of the PDM. All they could offer Mr. President was to ensure that Atiku’s influence within the Party was whittled down and this led to his suspension from the Party over an arrangee kangaroo court which found him guilty of mismanagement of public funds form the till of the PDTF. Tony Anenih also tasted the bitter pill of the President over his inability to sell the dummy of third term to politicians who largely belong to the PDP.

Atiku went ahead to get reprieve from the court which quashed his suspension although he was quick to have floated a Party, the Action Congress which today can be said to be the only strong rival Party to the PDP. Obasanjo now faced with the dilemma of who to succeed him was thought to have rooted for the Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili who is seen as the President’s political son. A fact which can be traced to the latter’s role during the 2003 elections where over 17 governors opposed the return of Obasanjo to power. Reports had it that it was Odili who upturned the decision of the recalcitrant governors who preferred the Vice President to contest the seat. In Odili, Obasanjo had found a worthy ally which he has confirmed even by his 15th state visits to Rivers State to commission one project or the other while some states have only been lucky to have him visit not more than twice since eight years of his administration. But just like the biblical Joseph and his brothers, Odili’s alliance with Obasanjo seems to have earned him the envy of his brothers-the South South governors who are stopping at nothing to tarnish his image before the President. The war has been taken to the apex point as some of the governors are ganging up against his ambition to become President.A sudden re-alliance has been found amongst those who are not comfortable with his ambition and eventual rise in politics. Odili’s broad style of campaign across the 36 states of the country has further elicited fears in the camp of those who are stopping at nothing to stop him. Surprisingly, Gov. James Ibori of Delta state who was at the fore front of the struggle for a South-South President is alleged to be financing Gov. Yaradua’s campaign.  Gov. Donald Duke who was not originally on the cards is now being touted as a possible running mate to a Northern Presidential candidate.But what is worrisome is Obasanjo’s position on the matter. He may need more than a crystal ball to see beyond the ordinary that the same forces that are bent on stopping Odili, his perceived choice, are actually routing for his political end. They are not happy that they somehow lost out of the power play in the PDP. Their alliance with Atiku is as strong as ever despite whatever guises they may be under now.

It mat\y be a payback time. Those wholly loyal to the Vee Pee are apparently found in both camps so either way the pendulum swings, they are still in control. If they succeed in planting Yaradua, it would have been established that the PDM remains in control of the PDP. At the end of his tenure, Obasanjo who now goes by the name, leader of the Party, would have been thrown into the ashes of history. He may end up without being able to build his own political structure just like the leaders of old including late Shehu Musa Yaradua.On Odili, who does not belong to the so called powerful PDM, the President would succeed in laying a foundation for his structure which would be consolidated by Odili. Obasanjo would also be on record as the man who liberated the people of the South-South during the Nigeria- Biafra civil war and as well yielded to their long quest for a President from the region.But if he succumbs to pressure and a PDM candidate emerges, then it would become a battle of the PDMs as it is most likely that Atiku would emerge under Action Congress. It would be foolhardy for Yaradua to deny the PDM because he rode on its back courtesy of his brother’s name to power. Even former President Ibrahim Babangida confirmed this when he wrote the President on why he had to withdraw from the race. IBB based his decision on the fact that he wanted to payback to the Yaradua family.The name Yaradua is synonymous with PDM and there is no gainsaying the fact the late Yaradua was the patriarch of the family with a lesser known Gov. Umar Yaradua.The battle of succession is more or less a battle between Obasanjo and the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM.

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