THE People’s Democratic Party, PDP, is making frantic efforts to reposition itself, rebrand its image and recapture its lost fortunes and supporters, but the party is facing serious power wrangling.

The PDP seems to be focusing its attention to the North- it wants its National Chairman and the 2019 presidential candidate to come from that region. However, the party has  met with some setbacks in its recent attempts to start the process. Certain factors are responsible for this.

After losing the 2015 elections; without proper analysis of the situation, the PDP,hasty, asked its then National Chairman, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu to resign. The PDP failed to see that its woeful performance in the north during the 2015 elections was strongly due to the unprecedented Buhari ‘Tsunami’, the failure of the then central government to effectively tackle the Boko Haram insurgency and the name Goodluck Jonathan.

It is commendable of  the PDP to have realised early that its resurrection, re-branding and a ‘restart’ must begin  from the north. It was not a coincidence that Ali Modu Sheriff’s three months in office brought the party back  to life in the north. Hate or love him- Sheriff is one of those adventurous  politicians in the north who has grabbed  the nitty-gritty of the politics in the north and have connections in the south. So, for the PDP to really begin a new start, it must take advantage of some of its bigwigs in the north who have adept understanding of the nexus of Hausa-Fulani  and the minority politics in the north. Late MKO Abiola’s inroad in the north was ‘motorised’ on the basis of utilisation of the experience of individuals who understood that nexus.

The PDP must bring on board people from the north to help the party to ‘come to life’ in the north. Most  of the party’s fortunes in the north are lost. Thus, the party needs someone who understands the dynamics of  northern politics.  Apart from having a chairman who has such capacity, the PDP also needs its founding members who understand the fundamentals of northern politics.  People like Sule Lamido, who is a product of the Aminu Kano radical politics of the north. Lamido is from the core Hausa-Fulani states and has large followers. When Sherrif visited Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State on Monday, April 25, 2016, the mammoth crowd Sule Lamido attracted was a strong political statement. Furthermore, his ‘cousins’ in the northeast will have nothing against him. The middle-belt and many northern minorities share his politics of radicalism. Lamido greatest shortcoming is the corruption case hanging on his neck. But with his excellent performance as governor of Jigawa State and his name is known throughout the country, just some ‘little re-packaging’ is what he needs.

The PDP’s resurgence depends on whether it recaptures its fortunes in the north and how well it takes advantage of its bigwigs from the region. However, for the PDP to make a full come back, some external factors has to play to its advantage. PDP’s future depends on whether it recaptures its lost fortunes in the north and how well it takes advantage of its experienced members who have gone through mills of the politics of the north.

Zayyad I. Muhammad Jimeta, Adamawa State, [email protected],