FOR anyone who attended the zonal meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-South zone which ended in a stalemate, July 10 at Uyo over the choice of a successor to the slain national vice chairman of the party in the zone, Chief Aminasoari Dikibo, the swearing in of Chief Godspower Ake, a former Special Adviser to Governor Peter Odili of Rivers state by the national chairman of the party, Chief Audu Ogbeh, July 14 in Abuja, beats the imagination and sense of logic.
It brings to question the credibility and integrity of the party which prides itself as the largest party in Africa. Some people have described the party as a lawless party where some few persons take decisions and try to foist it on others, and nothing best demonstrates this claim than the strange development at Abuja.
Clearly, the party in the zone did not resolve the issue of who takes over from the late Dikibo at the Uyo meeting. That was the major issue on the agenda but it ended in a stalemate.
While Chief Anenih and Governor Peter Odili, who he is rumored to be sponsoring as a vice presidential candidate in 2007 wanted Chief Ake to become the national vice chairman of the zone, Governors Lucky Igbinedion, James Ibori, Obong Victor Attah and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states respectively were not in support of the plan. They were rooting for Dr. Tarila Tebepah, who Bayelsa is sponsoring for the position and they voted for an election between the duo.
It was clear that if an election was held, the Anenih/Odili side would fail as the support was massive for the Bayelsa candidate but Anenih, citing the tension that mounted at the venue of the meeting and claiming that an election would polarize the zone, asked that further deliberations on the issue be deferred.
That was the agreement at Uyo. They also resolved to meet in Abuja July 12 to discuss the positions that were allocated the zone by the Federal Government in federal boards and parasatals. On that day, the meeting was held as scheduled and no mention was made of Dikibo's successor.
It is a notorious fact that a house that is built on nothing stands on nothing and so, the question that arises is on what grounds did Chief Ogbeh swear in Chief Ake as the national vice chairman of the party in the South-South and why was it hurriedly done?
Does Chief Ogbeh as the national chairman not have a party hierarchy in the zone that should normally brief him on the outcome of a meeting of such nature. Or did the structure of the party die with Dikibo or put in another way, in the absence of Dikibo, is there nobody to brief him on meetings and decisions reached in the zone?
If he was briefed by the party hierarchy, what was he told, was he told that Chief Ake was elected by anybody or that consensus of opinion favoured him?
If nobody in the party hierarchy in the zone briefed him which is scandalous in itself, has Ogbeh no mechanism to monitor the developments in his party, was he not aware of the division in the zone on Dikibo’s successor before the meeting, what effort did he make to get the true picture of things that transpired at the meeting before he swore in Chief Ake?
What did Chief Anenih, a national leader of the zone tell him as being the outcome of the meeting which he participated in. Did he tell him that the meeting decided on Ake or what? Ogbeh owes it as a duty to the members of the party in the zone who are spoiling for a showdown to explain what he was told and the reasons for swearing in Chief Ake on a shaky foundation.
Chief Anenih should also do well to explain his position because it would be unfair to him for a decision that was not taken at a meeting that he attended to be implemented by the party. He, it was, who said that tension should come down before further deliberations on the matter.
Tension has not come down since the meeting on the matter. In fact, Governor Igbinedion who has been elected the spokesman of the governors told Vanguard that the matter has not been settled at all. He said it was an illegal selection that was against all democratic norms.
Or is Chief Ogbeh under any pressure. What kind of pressure is it? He has to speak out for the impression as Senator Roland Owie, a former chieftain of the party and chief whip of the Senate once said is that “the PDP is a lawless party where the wishes of a cabal reigns supreme. There is nothing good in that party, it is a party of people who do not keep to agreements and it is dangerous to work with such people. They keep deceiving people, no wonder they are known as People Deceive People (PDP)”.
