The immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, in this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO spoke on recent developments in the party, especially the never-ending crisis and the danger it (the crisis) portends for the PDP ahead of the 2027 general election. Excerpts:
As a stakeholder in the PDP, are you worried with the state of things within the party?
I am very worried and indeed very sad with the turn of events within our great party like any other member who is a lover of the party. I am concerned that the party is hemorrhaging seriously. The signs are just all out there for all to see. There is no gainsaying the fact that the PDP is going through its dark side at the moment.
If you are asked to say, who will you blame for this; I mean the dark side which you alluded to?
I can tell you that the challenges facing the PDP as we speak are multi-dimensional. I am however of the opinion that there are ways and options opened to the party as means of resolving them and finding needed lasting solutions to the problems as they are. Firstly, the current leadership of the party under the Ambassador Umar Damagum-led NWC is faulty in many ways, let me expressly say so because, the office being occupied by Damagum belongs to the North-central geo-political zone. In the PDP, zoning and micro-zoning of political offices to all zones of the country have been the tradition since the party was founded in 1998. That decision has always guided whatever we do during electioneering. The current national chairman is from another zone and not from the zone where the office had been zoned to. So, you can see that there is a challenge there for the party. The problem is that he has refused to revert to his former position as the deputy national chairman for the North. For me, if that kind of anomaly is not corrected, the party cannot move forward.
Are you now saying that the problem of the party will be solved when Damagum decides to step down as the acting national chairman?
Yes! That’s my candid opinion; I believe very strongly that it will end the crisis within the PDP. I am also aware that there are plans to have a quick convention where a new chairman or so to say, a new leader will be elected to pilot the affairs of the party in a substantive capacity. We are trying to do this so that by December, the new national working committee of the party will resume and start work. I believe when that is done, all the pending issues in the PDP would have been sorted out and peace would finally reign within the party. I know that something is going on in that direction but my own candid opinion is that; whatever way it goes, I don’t think that the North-central zone deserved to be treated unfairly within the PDP. I don’t think so because it won’t help the current circumstances within the party in any way.
Are you bothered that the crisis has dragged on for this long and that the party has lost many of its members to the ruling All Progressives Congress?
Sincerely, it is very disturbing that the situation has been left to fester for this long. The PDP has lost so much blood from its vein. Like you rightly said, people are leaving the party in droves to join the ruling party. From all I can see, many more people are waiting to do the same if the situation persists. Those who are still left are waiting to see how events will turn out in the party before making any concrete decision. Like I said earlier on, I do not believe that the chances for the party to get its acts together have been closed. I think that the events that will eventually happen in the nearest future will determine what will be the fate of the party.
Observers have accused the PDP of laxity with respect to its perceived inability to discipline its errant members who have been seen openly fraternizsing with the opposition to the detriment of the party; as a leader, why has it been so difficult for the PDP to discipline its errant members?
Because the current leadership of the party has not tuned its mind to finding solutions to the present challenges within the party. There are laws that sanction such behaviours in the constitution of the party. There are laws to guard against the occurrences that you have mentioned. If such laws are not being implemented, then you must appportion the blame to those who are in the leadership positions of the party. We need to ask them why they have found it difficult to apply the law as stipulated in the party’s constitution.
There are crises in the state chapters of the PDP, where the party has broken into fragments down the ranks; a good example is River State where Governor Sim Fubara is at loggerheads with the Minister of the FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike, why do you think it’s has been difficult for your party to bring the two personalities together?
Just as it is at the national level, the challenges within the River State chapter of the party are multi-dimensional too. You can look at it from the administrative or political sides. On the party side, I think that the issue of who is in charge of the party in any state is already being handled but you also know that the parties are in court but for now and with the influence of the PDP Governors Forum, the leader issue of the party in River State is being handled.
Your presidential candidate in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is seen as one of the promoters of the new mega party, where do you think thag leaves him within the party?
I am not in the position to speak on behalf of the party because I am no longer a member of the national working committee of the party. If I was, I would have been able to speak on behalf of the party on that. I am no longer part of the people running the day-to-day activities of the party. As far as I know, the leadership of the party or anyone has not made such allegation against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Until that is done, I can’t really say whether he is the one leading the coalition or not because the party has not spoken about that. I am not also unaware that there are moves to form a coalition. I am also not unaware that in the larger community that there are reports that a mega party is in the works.
Talking about the proposed mega party arrangement, do you think your party, the PDP, should be part of it?
I am aware that the leaders of the party have come out to that they are not planning to belong to a mega party or to do a merger. I saw a statement from the national publicity secretary of the party stating categorically that the party is not going to be party to any of such arrangement.
But the party won’t rule out such possibility if invited?
Like I said before, I no longer speak for the party as the spokesman. I can only say that I speak for myself for now.
Do you think the PDP will overcome its present challenges and reposition itself to win the forthcoming general election?
With the right approach by stakeholders to solve and resolve the challenges within the PDP, I can say yes! I believe it (the PDP) has the capacity to remove the pains that all Nigerians are facing now in 2027.
Recently, the Senate suspended a member of your party, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for six months, what’s your reaction?
The suspension of Senator Natasha cannot be seen in isolation of what took place on the floor of the Senate during plenary. I said to some people earlier today that the matter was mismanaged by the Senate from the beginning. The presiding officer, who was the Senate President, mismanaged the issue from the beginning. That’s why it took the dimension that it eventually took. As it is now, it has become a national challenge.
Do you think that the suspended senator was properly and fairly treated by her colleagues?
I have also said that I think that the issue of fair hearing was not duly taken into cognizance when the decision was taken in the Senate. Also, I think that the Senate President ought not to have sat in judgment over the matter in the Senate during plenary considering the fact that he is a party to the case. You can’t be the accuser, prosecutor and the judge in your own case. I think that for these two cogent reasons, the matter has not been properly addressed.
Do you think the PDP should directly intervene in the matter, considering the fact the she is a member of your party?
I strongly believe that the party will rise in support of her. I want to believe so.
Is there any plan or moves by the PDP to recall or go to court to retrieve your mandate in possession of some of your members who have defected to the ruling party?
For me, that should be left for the current leadership of the party to do. It is a decision for them to take if they want to.
