By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor and   Tony Edike

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP stakeholders in Borno State may have picked up the gauntlet in a bold bid for the national chairmanship of the party. But the party stakeholders are, however, facing serious challenges from the Southeast which is now claiming that it must finish its own term of four years before ceding the office to another zone.

The fight back by the Southeast follows the momentum towards the Northeast picking the number one party office in the ruling party.

Among the major contenders so far angling for the top job are Ambassador Hassan Adamu, Alhaji Bamanga Muhammed Tukur, Professor Jibril Aminu, Alhaji Settima Mustapha, Ambassador Idris Waziri, , Alhaji Gambo Lawan, Alhaji Adamu Muazu and Senator Danjuma Goje, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Ambassador Idris Waziri.

Though the three contenders from Adamawa State were the early names to be mentioned the seeming hostility to them by the Adamawa State government seems a big burden for them in the solicitation of votes.

While Adamawa State seems reluctant to support any of its three big sons in the race, it is remarkable that Borno State is inching and supportive of a candidate from the State. Party stakeholders from the State last Sunday in a meeting resolved that the office should be zoned to Borno State, the only state they claimed was yet to produce a top official of the party.

The declaration of the party stakeholders would inevitably give a big boost to the aspiration of former Defence Minister, Dr. Shettima Mustapha who is believed to be nurturing an ambition for the top party job.

Mustapha served in the last cabinet of late President Umaru Yar‘adua.

Among those present at the stakeholders’’ meeting in Maiduguri were the state chairman, Alhaji Baba Basharu, PDP governorship candidate and former Governor of old Borno State, Alhaji Muhammadu Goni, his running mate in the last gubernatorial election Amb. Saidu Pindar, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Arch. Ibrahim Bunu, former minority leader of the House of Representatives, Barrister Umar Kumaila. Also present were Senator Ahmed Zanna, Hajia Fanta Baba Ahmed, Engr. Mohammed Makinta and Mr. Iliya Stephen Mshelizah

The stakeholders in their communiquéé at the end of their meeting resolved thus:
In a communiquéé issued at the end of the meeting the stakeholders resolved thus:1. To request the North East to concede the position of national chairman of the PDP zoned to the region to the Borno State2. That this should be looked into in the interest of fair play considering the fact that the Borno-Yobe bloc has not occupied any prominent national position in the party since its formation. 3. That eminently qualified elders of the party who are founding fathers of the PDP and presently are BOT members and have record of public service and party administration at national level have indicated their interest in the chairmanship position.4. That a committee to tour the remaining states of the zone to convince members and leaders of the party to yield to our request in the interest of fair play in underway.

But the aspiration of the Borno and other Northeast stakeholders is seriously being challenged by the Southeast political caucus in the PDP. The stakeholders are affirming that the term of office for a Southeast PDP chairman is not over and are as such demanding that the next chairman be picked from the region.

Indeed, the Deputy President of the Senate Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has intensified the fight back by the Southeast for the retention of the office of the national chairman of the PDP.
While denying claims that the office of the national chairman has been rezoned to the Northeast, Ekweremadu has warned that any move to immediately rezone the office from the Southeast would entail the dissolution of the present National Working Committee, NWC of the party.

In dismissing insinuations that the party hierarchy had zoned the National chairmanship to the North East zone, Ekweremadu insisted that as a member of the party’’s National Caucus that he was not aware of any meeting where zoning of the party’’s top position was discussed.

He however said the South East was not opposed to the position going to other zones but emphasized that due process must be followed in taking the decision.

According to the Deputy Senate President, the only way the National chairmanship of the party could leave the South East at this time would be for the outright dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) and re-zoning of positions, adding that anything short of that would amount to “an illegality that must not be allowed to stand”.

He said: “There was no formal zoning of any position within the party. I am a member of the party caucus and to the best of my knowledge; we have not met to discuss the issue of zoning. What we are trying to do is to retain the initial zoning arrangement. It still subsists until the next elective convention.

“The South East must complete their term of four years because it is zoned to them. Because of the zoning arrangement which reserved the National chairmanship for the South East, the zone has nobody else in the NWC while other zones have two and some three or more members.

Now that Bello is the Acting National Chairman, it means nobody from the South East is in the party’’s NWC. Until we get to the next convention, the PDP is duty bound to honour the South East by allowing them complete their tenure.

“For now, the North East has to wait till the next convention. If we meet at the NEC, and members decide to cancel the zoning arrangement; what it means is that it will equally affect every other position of the party. Then we have to start afresh and cancel the existing zoning arrangement and rearrange. Once that is done, we are obedient party men, we will abide by that but until that is done, the South East must as a matter of right be allowed to complete their tenure.”