For many, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is now a shadow of its former self.
From a party the founding fathers described as the biggest in Africa with the capability of ruling Nigeria uninterrupted for sixty years, the PDP is now like a party on life support and may collapse if the right things are not done as fast as possible.
Presently, the battle for the soul of Nigeria’s biggest opposition party, the PDP, is at an all-time high.
Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and current FCT Minister Nyesom Wike are set for an ultimate showdown.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) party meeting slated for April 18 is set to pitch the two gladiators and bigwigs against each other. It’s believed that whoever has the National Working Committee in his pocket will dictate who becomes the party’s candidate in the 2027 presidential election.
The rift between the duo started immediately after Atiku Abubakar clinched the Presidential ticket of the PDP in the last poll. To maintain relevance in the party, Wike, after losing out to Atiku, sought the removal of Iyorcha Ayu, the party Chairman, which would pave the way for a southerner to step in since the party’s presidential candidate is from the northern region.
But Ayu refused to relinquish his position against his earlier position of quitting the office should a northerner win the presidential primary election.
Aggrieved, the FCT Minister and four other governors in the party formed a spoiler group dubbed G-5, which contributed to Atiku’s narrow defeat at the poll.
The national chairman would later bow to pressure, after which his deputy, Ambassador Umar Damagum, stepped in as acting national chairman.
However, since the ex-vice President’s avoidable loss, he and Wike have been at loggerheads, spitting on each other’s faces as drama unfolds within the party’s rank and file.
THISDAY reports that the reason the duo have been on each other’s necks lately is because the former Vice President wants to contest the 2027 presidential election but is afraid that if the former governor controls the party’s apparatus, he might dash his hope.
His camp also believes that with Wike controlling the NWC, the All Progressives Congress, APC, under which he is a minister, will have a free ride in the election.
There have been calls for Nyesom Wike’s sanction for accepting the ministerial position, but the acting national chairman, Damagum, has not responded. Besides, the former governor said he got the nod of the party’s NWC before he accepted the ministerial position.
However, On April 13, 2024, Sunnewsonline reported that party sources disclosed that Wike controls a sizable number of members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and state chairpersons of the party, perhaps that is why he has not been sanctioned.
Atiku’s camp wanted Damagum removed because of allegiance to Wike and replaced with Benue’s former Governor, Gabriel Suswam, who pleaded with the party to allow him to complete Ayu’s tenure.
The FCT Minister, on his part, wanted Damagum to be upgraded to the substantive national PDP chairman.
The senators, reps members, and governors of the party are divided over the Wike-Atiku battle of supremacy which is threatening to tear the party further apart if not properly handled.
The supremacy battle between the two friends turned enemies offers an insight into what is to be expected in 2027.
As earlier said, whoever controls the National Working Committee (NWC) after the NEC meeting scheduled for April 18 between the duo will have a say in who becomes the party’s presidential candidate in the 2027 election.
Experts say if Wike gets hold of the party’s apparatus, that will mark the end of Atiku’s more than two decades of struggling to become Nigeria’s president. And if the latter succeeded in his campaign for Suswam, the former would be cut down to his size.
New Twist to Supremacy battle
There is a new twist to Nyesom Wike and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s battle to control the party structure. Some governors believed to be rooting for the two PDP chieftains have joined the race to grip the party structure, as reported by THISDAY.
A source reportedly close to the PDP Governors’ Forum told the newspaper that the governors believe that they deserve to control the party because of their enormous contributions towards maintaining the party.
THISDAY quoted another source close to the PDP Governors’ Forum saying, “We are a party in opposition; the governors are our collegiate leaders, unlike when PDP was in power and the President is the leader of the party. So, no single person can control the party.
In the midst of this intense power struggle, the fate of the People’s Democratic Party hangs in the balance.
The unanswered question on the lips of many ahead of the NEC meeting is whether unity will prevail, or will division and the supremacy battle further tear the party apart?
