President Goodluck Jonathan

This is a report on how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, came to its decision of retaining the zoning clause in its constitution and yet, paved the way for President Goodluck Jonathan to contest next year’s presidential election.  It is also a situation report of what would become of the remaining presidential aspirants within the PDP and the continuing negotiations for the eventual coronation of Jonathan.

By Jide Ajani, Deputy Editor

Some presidential contenders have been left with the short end of the stick.  But what they will do with it is what the President Goodluck Jonathan camp is working on.

When Chief of Staff to President Jonathan, Mike Oghiadohme, took off on an imperial note regarding the Jonathan Project, he was instructed to tone down.  He has since toned down Sunday Vanguard can reveal.

In fact, it was that spirit of engagement that may have further softened the terrain for the President.
The charge from President Jonathan was simple and straight forward: Clear the coast for me.  That was the charge handed down to a tight knit circle of elders and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.  He may have got his wish and desire. It was programmatic.

Sunday Vanguard has been made to understand that the first impetus to the Jonathan campaign was the declaration by Chief Anthony Anenih, a declaration which was widely circulated on the issue of zoning in the PDP.  Anenih, who was national chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, and immediate past PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chairman, was the person who, with records, declared that zoning was never a sacrosanct matter in PDP; he gave facts and figures to buttress his point of view.

Those who also played key roles prior to last Thursday’s NEC meeting included but were not limited to Barnabas Gemade, Solomon Lar, both former chairmen of the party, and Okwesilieze Nwodo, incumbent national chairman.  Making different arguments to counter zoning, they all individually played their roles.  Then there were the state governors who had to be worked on.

Sunday Vanguard can also reveal that Governors Danjuma Goje of Gombe State and Bukola Saraki of Kwara State were actually interested in the presidential race.  Going back and forth on the issue of zoning, they were said to have been prevailed upon.
In fact, the decision to allow Jonathan contest was said to have been hinged on the youthfulness of both governors.

The thinking, information available to Sunday Vanguard suggests, in allowing Jonathan to complete the tenure of his joint ticket with late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is “just so after a term of four years, power would rotate back to the north for a fresh tenure”, a source close to Aso Rock Presidential Villa disclosed. For those reading the signal wrongly, what the PDP NEC did last Thursday was to clear the way for President Jonathan to seek re-election next year and the logic is simple.

On the two sides of the divide were those for zoning and those against zoning or the other.

The position of those for zoning was simply an indirect disqualification of President Jonathan from the presidential elections of next year.  Those who opposed zoning wanted nothing more than for Jonathan to have a fighting chance to contest the election.

Now that the PDP has cleared the coast for Jonathan to participate, while simultaneously saying all those interested in the presidential primary of the party are free to do so is no more than a double speak of gargantuan proportions.

However, Sunday Vanguard can reveal that the decision of last Thursday by the NEC of the party is an equally indirect way of endorsing President Jonathan as the PDP candidate for next year’s presidential elections.

“Not without warning”, another source asked, “in the situation that we have found ourselves now, where the party has, in a manner of speaking, given a waiver for President Jonathan to seek re-election, how would you expect those who are leaders of the party to allow their choice of candidate fail”?

But asked by Sunday Vanguard how the party would cope with renegades who may not buy into a Jonathan ascendancy and, therefore, work against the interest of the party at the general elections, the response from another PDP leader was simple:  “We are politicians and we will continue to persuade our people to do the right thing for the country”, was the direct shot.

The matter was settled before last Thursday.  Typically a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, way of doing its thing, an example typified with by continuing postponement of the National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the party until the choice of Okwesilieze Nwodo as Chairman was settled, in June. In fact, one of those who would have participated in the presidential contest of the PDP, and a front runner at that, was said to have simply “packed it all up before Thursday’s NEC meeting of the PDP.  He saw the way the thing was going and just decided that it was not worth it”.

Interestingly, however, the presidential contender was said to have waived a copy of an earlier report by this reporter to the effect that “the increasing consolidation of former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari’s support base in the north may force the hands of the trio of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as well as the current National Security Adviser, NSA, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, to quickly engage a process of negotiations that would resolve the long drawn controversy about zoning in their Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.  Two sources – one from Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, and the other close to the leadership of the PDP, made Vanguard understand that the increasing mobilization of supporters for “Buhari and the protracted debate over zoning in the PDP may hand him the presidency by default””.

However, in all of these, Jonathan has not committed himself to any decision, even though all signals point to a declaration very soon.

Sunday Vanguard also discovered that a series of consultations are expected this week with a view to assuaging some frayed nerves over the issue of zoning.

At last Thursday’s meeting, the fact that Ibrahim Shema, the Katsina State governor was the one who moved the motion for the waiver for President Jonathan was all part of the deal.  Coming from late Yar’Adua’s Katsina, it was only meet and proper.  Chief Anenih seconded.

The win ability of the PDP presidential ticket may be within the grip of President Jonathan having received the backing of 24 PDP state governors in attendance.

However, much work needs to be done and is being done by the Jonathan group.

Other PDP aspirants are expected to drop their aspiration and support Jonathan.

Most of those who would be holding the short end of the stick would have to be persuaded not to stab him in the back with that short end.

The issue of the short end can be likened to the position of the same PDP in 1999, 2003 and 2007, where some dissidents contested the presidential primary of the party against the position of the party on zoning.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President was said to have  been taken to task at the BoT meeting of the party.

Sunday Vanguard was reliably told by a source at the meeting that once the party secretary, Baraje, introduced the issue of zoning, Obasanjo immediately rose on his feet and sought to dominate discussion on zoning, even insisting that zoning should be completely dumped by the party.

There was in attendance a comparatively younger Northerner who could not stomach Obasanjo’s vituperations.

“The younger man”, Sunday Vanguard gathered, “told Obasanjo to put himself in the place of an elder statesman.  The fellow told him that of all past Presidents of Nigeria it is only Obasanjo who still creates time to attend all manner of meetings here and there. The man also made him understand that as an elder statesman that he is expected to be, what is demanded of such a status is that when in attendance in a meeting, he should listen to all sides before making a pronouncement and even such a pronouncement must be one that is informed and not one based on some warped reasoning”. But there have been dissidents in the PDP from its outset.

In fact, during that expanded caucus meeting of the party, it was former Akwa Ibom State governor (Victor Attah) who, and according to the unedited version of the minutes of that meeting, said “zoning as an arrangement can not be fixed for the future. It is an issue that we must agree on when each term expires.  There can be dissidents but the party would know that it has decided on a particular. He said the south should be allowed to have a second term.”
Judging from PDP history, dissidents have been allowed to play out their follies at the party’s convention. However, those dissidents who were allowed to contest the primaries were not in office as President of Nigeria as Jonathan is today.  Therefore, a PDP insisting that zoning remains but goes ahead to say its Leader can seek the party’s ticket, judging from history, may have inadvertently termed President Jonathan the dissidents. This is high stake politics and even if President Jonathan could have had his way to dump zoning, the engagement policy of some moderates would suggest that things are not done like that because once the gate is shut there is the possibility of creating a mob action against an aspiration.

Jonathan’s presidential ambition is still a work in progress and consultations are still on.