SOUTHWEST PDP: WHERE 'CLOWNS', 'RAGAMUFFINS' AND 'BASTARDS' LEAD THE WAY
Weeks back, some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West led by the National Vice-Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, paid a visit to the national leadership of the party in Abuja and proclaimed that the North should retain the National Chairmanship position. At the time of the visit, such a campaign was unpopular at least among some chieftains of the party in the South West.
Notable among the anti-North group were Chief Olabode George, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Dr. Doyin Okupe. Even Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, is on record as being one of the earliest proponents of the South West producing the National Chairman of the party.
They said they wanted the position to be zoned to the South-West because the zone has not occupied the position since the creation of the party 18 years ago.
But the South West delegation, which comprised of the Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Senator Buruji Kashamu and other well-meaning leaders, who mooted the idea of the North retaining the Chairmanship position, said the party risked being reduced to a regional party if the National Chairman is picked from the South.
They said the party was already strong in the South, with 10 governors; two of whom are from the South West, as against the whole of the North which has just two PDP governors.  
No sooner had they stated their position than they were called “clowns”, “ragamuffins” and “bastards” by the likes of Okupe, George and Babatope. 
The Bode George group met in Lagos a couple of weeks ago where they threatened fire and brimstone if the South West is denied the National Chairmanship position. They called another meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, last Wednesday, where they were supposed to reinforce their position. This was in spite of the fact that the zoning committee set up by the National Working Committee (NWC) on the recommendation of the National Executive Committee (NEC) had zoned the National Chairmanship position to the North and the North-East, in particular.
But the principled position, sound arguments and robust campaign mounted by the South West zonal executive of the party, with the able support of Senator Kashamu, that the National Chairmanship position should remain in the North seems to have carried the day.
The Akure meeting, which was meant to reinforce the George group's campaign or stance for the South West to get the National Chairmanship position, was subdued and forced to align with what the Kashamu/Ogundipe group has been championing since February or so.
Political pundits are of the view that those who gathered in Akure might have been forced by the political reality on ground to align with the pro-Northern group that met in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, same Wednesday. While the Akure meeting had more government functionaries and the two PDP governors in the zone in attendance, the Ijebu Igbo parley had more statutory delegates from across the six states of the zone in attendance. The Ijebu Igbo meeting had no less than three members of the Board of Trustees of the PDP,  all the members of the Zonal Exco, members of the State Executive Committees in at least four of the six states of the South West, members of the National Assembly from Ogun, Oyo and Lagos states.
Although those who met in Akure neither stated that they were in support of the North retaining the National Chairmanship position nor that they support of the candidacy of the incumbent National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, unlike the group that met in Ijebu Igbo, their muffled position on the National Chairmanship does seem a subtle endorsement or acceptance of the retention of the position in the North. What is more, their decision to set up a committee to equitably share the positions zoned to the South West, to wit, the National Secretary, National Auditor and the National Publicity Secretary, also reinforced this position.
Now, the people who threatened that they will reconsider their membership of the PDP if the position does not come to the South West are now scheming to share the positions that have long been accepted and probably shared by those who aligned with Senator Kashamu/Ogundipe group.
‎In a way, it could be safely said that anti-North group has been forced by obvious political realities that Kashamu and others saw ahead of them to accept the position of those they called ‘bastards’ and ‘ragamuffins’! The so-called ragamuffins and bastards have the foresight and the pragmatism that the so-called founding founders, free-born and those who call themselves omoluabi never had.
However, the point of divergence between the Akure and Ijebu Igbo meetings is that while the Akure group also listed the Zonal Executive Committee as part of the positions to be shared, the Ijebu Igbo parley resolved that since members of the zonal executive came into office on the 11th of October, 2014, and they have a four-year tenure, their tenure will elapse on the 11th of October, 2018. How these issues will be resolved remain to be seen in the coming days and weeks.
There is no doubt that as the May 21st 2016 National Convention of the PDP draws nearer, there will be more intrigues, subterfuge and scheming. But for now, it is safe to describe the South West PDP as a place or party where those who were called ‘clowns’, ‘bastards’ and ‘ragamuffins’ lead the way while others follow.