With the poor showing of the Lagos chapter
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2011 governorship election,
some stakeholders and members seem to be gathering fists for the next election,
calling for a sanitisation of the party's leadership in the state.
Crisis may not be alien to various state
chapters of the PDP in the country, but for its Lagos chapter, it would be apt
to describe it as, one day one trouble chapter that has no rudder, and like
wandering sheep, moves without any direction.
Given that the party does not have any
known parallel executive with the Captain Tunji Shelle-led team, the
fragmentation within the party, to say the least, is alarming. Groups within
the party only mind the dictate of their own contact leader, who does not owe
any allegiance to the state executive.
While many analysts believe that the PDP in
the state ought to have leverage on the marginal success and maximum goodwill
it received from the public after the local government election in 2011, pull
the string of grievances amidst its members together and find means of taking a
leap for the repositioning of the party for future elections.
The problem the Lagos PDP is having is
still the same issue of overbearing influence of the elders who have been using
similar tactics of politics and seems to have lost touch with the reality of
modern politics as it concerns the southwest.
Look at how Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro
single-handedly put the ACN and Tinubu on their toes at the last local
government election in Ikoyi-Obalende. These crop of new politicians understand
the rudiment of grassroots politics combined with modern tactics of wooing the
electorate.
Presently, if you look at the approach of
the new zonal chairman of the PDP in the southwest, Adedeji Doherty, you will
be impressed at his engagement on issues. It takes a cultivated man to
administer that seat the way he is currently doing.
I think it is high time the national
headquarters and the Presidency excuse these old hands from the core activities
and day-to-day running of the PDP in Lagos. The likes of Ogunlewe, Bode George,
Yomi Finnih and the rest should be allowed to take a rest from the core affairs
of the party. They are always fighting themselves in public and this has
continued to erode their image in the eyes of the public.
Although, there have been repeated moves
for reconciliation in the party, this has always met brick wall, owing to
personal ego and the winner-takes-all mentality in some of the party
chieftains.
Speaking recently at a southwest
stakeholders forum held at the Lagos, former Minister of Works and a chieftain
of the party in Lagos, Senator Ogunlewe, beckoned to the party leadership in
the zone to come to the aid of the Lagos chapter, saying, 'we are just patching
up because our reconciliation is not done yet.'
Clearly, with the 2015 general elections
fast approaching, there might be need for a paradigm shift in the helms of
leadership in the party, if the party aims to get anything meaningful in all
forms of election especially in the Presidential election where millions of
eligible voters mostly youths, may take consolation in the words of their peers
in the PDP, if the party and the Presidency give them the opportunity to manage
the affairs of the party.
The appointment of a solid ministerial
nominee from Lagos has eluded the state since 2007 after the elections, which
has thrown the party into disarray.
It began with the successful removal of the
Lagos State Gubernatorial nominee in 2007, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro from
consideration by the Chief Bode George camp. The eventual nominee and
benefactor, Chief Demola Seriki held the position with no meaningful impact for
three years. After failing to secure the party's gubernatorial ticket in 2011
coming a distant third, he defected to the opposition party.
The same crisis short-changed the state
when the then acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the cabinet in 2010.
This time it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo that took advantage by
using Lagos State's ministerial slot for the appointment of someone who is not
an indigene of Lagos State.
With the recent sack of nine ministers and
the current polity of the President not likely to seek input from former
President Obasanjo, the opportunity has presented itself for the crisis-ridden
Lagos State PDP chapter to nominate a credible person to represent the state
and serve in the President's cabinet.
Without any disrespect to the personal
leadership and/or character attributes of those that form the leadership of the
party in Lagos State, given their current composition and track record, it is
safe to conclude that they are incapable of helping the Presidency achieve its
goals.
The outcome of selecting the usual old
hands as ministers, will only lead to chaos.
There are too many reasons why chaos will
be inevitable, and they include: ambition, power tussle for state's party
structure at the expense of others, jealousy, betrayal. The list is endless.
Victor Agbone writes from Ajeromi Ifelodun
LGA, Lagos State
No comments:
Post a Comment