PARTY POLITICS IN NIGERIA. HOW OBJ AND JONATHAN DESTROYED PDP.

The most ironical thing about the destruction of PDP is that while patriotic, astute, courageous and selfless Nigerians defied the highest tyranny with its antendant intimidation, molestation and victimisation to precipitate what became the biggest political party of the continent, selfish, avaricious and disingenuous Nigerians who contributed nothing to either the formation of the party or its growth led it to albatross.

The alternative politicians forum Chaired by Ekwueme and Prof Jerry Gana as its secretary started like a pressure group with the main agenda of stopping Abacha's despotic transmutation ambition.

The forum that later precipitated into a political party after series of meetings at the late Abubakar Rimi's residence dared Abacha. They sacrificed their all to produce the first ever political party with national outlook known to our history. The contributions of Ekwueme, Gana, Sunday Awoniyi, late Chief Solomon Lar and the former Kano Governor, Late Abubakar Rimi with a host of others in the face of raging tyranny and military mobocracy can never be over emphasised.

The party was founded on sound ideology with the dreams of building a lasting democracy in Nigeria by taking the government from the barracks to the common Nigerian people.

Nigerians were happy, the international community cheered us. We became the new bride of democracy as the world's attention was focused on our born gain nation. We were once again, proud to wear democratic regalia in the comity of states....a pure season of pride and celebration in Nigeria.

As the Abubakar abdulsalami's transition programme drew closer, PDP organised a national convention in Jos with a founding member imbued with the parties ideologies and drilled in a civilian administrative structure, Alex Ekwueme as a candidate. Events changed when a military dictator with no democratic credentials, Obasanjo was hurried out of prison and presented at the national convention by some cabals with the sole aim of placating the Yoruba nation over Abiola's stollen mandate of June 12, as a candidate. I have always opined that the military never wanted to handover to a civilian for two reasons, as a matter of trust. They always see the civilian politicians as corrupt and self-serving apparently forgetting that in almost all the palace coups, they accused the dethroned military govt of corruption too. The most amusing, was when Joshua Ninyel Dogoyaro accused the Buhari regime of the same crimes the Buhari govt accused Shagari of. The second reason is that the military wanted somebody that was part of the military system so as to cover their lootocracy and evils whilst in power.

They found a suitable candidate in Obasanjo who was already growing in ranks after contesting for the post of UN secretary general and his role in the inter-council committee that was inundated to appraise the South African apartheid situation, He therefore won the primaries and went on to win the election.

The first thing Obasanjo did as the president was to effect the removal of the founding chairman of PDP, late Chief Solomon Lar and replace him with Audu Ogbeh. The impunity in PDP was therefore born. It is antithetical to party politics and unbecoming to internationally acclaimed party system norms for a product of a party to superimpose himself as the leader of the party and therefore reserve the divine right of dictating what happens, who gets what and how within the party. The decorous practice is that the product of the party including the president is subject to the party internal mechanism when it comes to party issues. This was the practice in NPN in the 3rd republic where Chief Adisa Meredith Akinloye, the national chairman of the party is always accorded respect as the leader of the party. It is on record that in NPN meetings, Shagari will always remain in the floor while Akinloye and the party leadership always preside unless he is invited to the high table. That is the accepted decorum interwoven with party politics all over the world democracy.

The crude and craft practise Obasanjo employed that sunk the party's ideologies was to get the incoming chairman, Audu Ogbe to write an undated and signed resignation letter before getting appointed to the exalted position of the party's national chairman. That was clearly to get him hoodwinked into dancing to the tone dictated by him and so he would be able to have an unfettered power to teleguide the party activities and impose any candidate that suits him especially who would be of help in the next elections. That was crude, uncivilised and a sacrilege to our new born virgin-democracy.

He went on to relegate the hotheaded party founding fathers that dared his despotic and authoritarian policies. The outspoken Abubakar Rimi was pushed out of the party including Sunday Awoniyi, Alex Ekwueme and a host of others.

Having clipped the wings of the party elders, he moved his clenched fists to the state level were Governors who dared him were chastised with their state starved allocations. Orji Uzo Kalu was his fierce enemy.

Having battered his relationship with state governors, he allowed his ABUJA BOYS to embezzle as many billions as they can with which to battle the respective governors in their states. They were seen everywhere flouting hard currencies and always at loggerheads with state governors. Their main Agenda was to hijack party structures from their respective governors to perfect his imposition policy. The biggest irony of that period was that while Obasanjo was busy battling other state governors for their state party control, his own state PDP structure was hijacked from him by the then Governor Olugbenga Daniel. It was Prince Buruji Kashamu, who was to become a thief and a drug Baron at the expiration of their honeymoon that restored Ogun state PDP party structure to Obasanjo.

He again initiated Kangaroo impeachment proceedings against state governors who proved stubborn in surrendering state party structures to the dictator and those who opposed any of his policies. Chief Joshua Dariye of Plateau, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti and Alamieseiygha of Bayelsa states were illegally removed from office as governors.

At the build up to the 2007 elections, OBJ knowing that he did nothing and would be removed without state governor's rigging mechanism in motion initiated a romance with the state governors. Assured them of return tickets in the name of consensus candidature thereby denying others level playing grounds and obstructing them from further actualising their political ambitions. Members became disgruntled and harboured disaffection for the party, an unhealthy situation that was later to destroy the PDP dubbed as the biggest political party in Africa.

Obasanjo's imposition of his apron strings at the national assembly leadership blocking other party members from vying for juicy positions at the national and even state assemblies was unhealthy for the party.

Obasanjo's sojourn at the Villa came to an end after all his effort to transmute into a life president was vigorously fought and stopped courtesy of Nigerians and particularly, Senator Ken Nnamani who was unmoved in his resolution not to defy our constitutional two tenure.

OBJ finally paved way for Yar'Adua, a fine gentleman with good intentions for the Nigerian states. A good example of good things don't last.

Goodluck came onboard. The greatest disservice he did to PDP was his support for 16 against 19. The governors forum saga. He allowed his personal squabbles with Amechi impair his objectivity and good reasoning. He was weak, cowardly, inexperienced and was only interested in his personal interests. Jonathan on no conditions should not have contested the 2015 presidential elections. It was a clear deviation from the rotational principle inserted in the PDP constitution by our founding fathers which was the unifying factor, the bond and which allays the fears of the minority allowing sense of belonging at all sides. PDP was able to be a,party of all Nigerians because of that rotational principle. It was therefore the root of the party. uprooting it became inevitably fatal to the life of the party. He was like the biblical Pharaoh, blinded so as to be destroyed.

Jonathan's ineptitude and laxity in handling party affairs having assumed the unconstitutional position of the party leader made matters worse. I could remember around June 2013 when OBJ held two days summit with PDP governors to settle the internal fracas the Governors Forum elections was breeding within the party. Jonathan was briefed of the outcome of the deliberations which could have solved the biggest problem that later led to the defection of our five governors. I remember Sullivan of Enugu suggesting that the two contestants, Jonah Jang of Plateau and Rotimi Amechi stood down for a fresh election which they must not contest, why didn't Jonathan pursue that path of lasting peace?

The clueless ness of Jonathan and his ineptitude came to bare when at the party's national convention at Eagle's square Abuja, he watched with no iota of concern, Some members of the party including Saraki, seven governors led by Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje stage a walk out from the convention only to form a parallel one at the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua centre. Jonathan was still unmoved, foolishly convinced to be on top of the matter. An early reconciliatory path could have restored the members back.

Five governors threatened to defect, he slumbered and snored without reaching out to them until they went into the APC and strengthened the party.

His wife became the party's director general. He led the party to the path of defeat when he defied every good reasoning to retain Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of the party only to sack him when the did was already done.

Jonathan will never be forgotten as the black sheep of the party when after leading us to a very poor outing in the 2015 general elections instead of staying back to unite, rebrand and reposition the party for the opposition knowing it was strange to it and for a possible come back by 2019, he left the country and was irresponsibly touring all over the world for months while the party was locked in a leadership quagmire.

The statement of Jonathan yesterday provoked this article. There is no way the party can win elections without a virile leadership.

There can only be constitutional defections and the coming back of PDP by 2019 will continue to be a figment of his imagination.

Just as few people laboured to nurture a party acceptable to all Nigerians, A party through which the dreams of common Nigerians like Jonathan who was once without shoes were achieved, few people also made it an elitist party with no input of the poor, choked the party to death, sapping all its ingredients and leaving its chaff, relaxing in a fool's paradise with the illusion of getting the party to power in the next two years when the party currently have no office and a leadership.

I was a PDP from childhood, i obtained a membership card at about 2012. Today i regrettably renounce my membership of the party.

Am looking forward to a youth-driven party where the Nigerian youths can be given the opportunities to harness their talents.

Am waiting for a party under which new surnames shall emerge. A party where a common Nigerian can rise. A party where competency is the yardstick. A party that will not use its mechanism to divide the members of the public along regional, ethnic, tribal and religious lines but rather carry out a reorientation of the clannish and religious sentiments of Nigerians. A party that where you are from, your surname and godfather will never be the determinant factors.

God Bless Nigeria

Comrade Okpe Sylvanus
Chief Political Editor @statereporters
Political Commentator And Civil Right Activist