The raging controversy over the appointment of Mr Godspower Ake as the new National Vice-Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in the South-South region is threatening the stability of the party in the zone. The open rejection recently of the appointment of Ake by four governors in the zone is so far the strongest signal indicating that the atmosphere within the party hierarchy in the region is highly charged. At a press conference addressed last week in Abuja by Governors James Ibori of Delta, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa, Obong Victor Attah of Akwa-Ibom and Lucky Igbinedion of Edo, they expressed dismay that Ake was imposed on the South-South region of the party without input of the membership of the zone. They accused the National Chairman of the party, Chief Audu Ogbeh of colluding with others including Rivers State Governor Peter Odili to unilaterally select Ake. The governors decried what they called the falsehood, insinuations and outright distortion of facts perpetrated by a section of the media following the Uyo zonal meeting of the party where the matter was deliberated on.
Attah who spoke on behalf of the four governors said an overwhelming majority of members of the zonal caucus of the party comprising National Assembly members and other accredited members supported the choice of the four governors who was Dr. Tarila Tebepan — a member of the party from Bayelsa state.
He continued: “Even it was true that the National Vice-Chairman for the zone has to come from Rivers State it is the zone that has to produce such a candidate.”
Attah pointed that the position of National Vice-chairman for the zone became vacant at the same time the same position became vacant in the North-West zone of PDP, adding that whereas Alhaji Yaurin who filled the position in that zone was elected democratically, Ake was imposed by Ogbeh and a few others.
Following these developments, the zone of the party has become a smouldering volcano waiting to explode. Already, two major camps have emerged in the party over the dispute.
The argument of the four governors was that since the position was originally zoned to old Rivers State which includes the Bayelsa, a Bayelsa indigene should assume the office considering the fact that the last two holders of that office hailed from Rivers State.
But this position was opposed by Rivers Governor Peter Odili and Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party who was also present at the meeting. Participants at the forum had suggested that the matter be put to vote so that it would be decided democratically. It was reliably gathered that when some powerful chieftains of the party observed that the tide was against them at the forum, they promptly postponed deliberation on the matter “to allow tension go down.” But few days later members of the party in the zone were shocked to hear that Ake had been sworn in by Ogbeh. Although he is not seen as a political foe in the zone, Ake has been accused of not seeking the mandate of its membership. He has been accused of using his links with Governor Odili and the presidency to achieve what he could not democratically.
There are reports that signs that the leadership of the party would not allow the democratic wishes of majority of the party members to prevail emerged at the early stage of the meeting convened by Attah. Governor Attah had at first expressed reservations over the attitude so far exhibited by leaders of the party in the investigation of the murder of the late national Vice-Chairman of the party, Chief Aminasoari Dikibo. But when discussion eventually drifted to the issue of who should replace the late politician, majority of the governors had settled for Dr. Tarila Tebepan. The Rivers Governor had argued that since the late Dikibo did not complete his term as a National Vice-Chairman for the zone, the remainder of his tenure should be completed by another indigene from Rivers State. Anenih also towed the same line. When therefore Odili went ahead and presented Ake who was a former aide to him to complete the tenure of the late Dikibo, the forum ended without reaching an agreement on who should be elected into the vacant party position.
There are reasons to believe that the schism caused by the dispute has pitched leading figures of the party in opposing camps. For instance, Senate Chief Whip in the National Assembly Chief Victor Oyofo was last week reported to have endorsed the selection of Ake. He said he did not see any reason for the uproar caused by the selection of the new National Vice-chairman for the party in the zone. On the other hand, Vice-president Atiku Abubakar was recently quoted as having denied any knowledge of a consensus decision to select Ake for the position in the South-South.
Observers of the party in the zone have said that the decision is not only an imposition on the membership of South-South zone of the PDP, but also an attempt to perpetrate instability within the structure of the party in the region. Right now there are reports of wide-spread discontent over the development.
So far it doesn’t appear that the intervention of President Olusegun Obasanjo to find a lasting solution to the dispute has assuaged the rage of the aggrieved governors. Despite the fact that the four governors were believed to have held a meeting with Obasanjo last week, they still openly restated their rejection of Ake. This notwithstanding, observers have expressed fears that the unfolding crisis could, as has often been the case in recent times, polarise the party along the lines of the various camps that are jostling for relevance in the race towards the presidency in 2007.
