What Makarfi’s victory at S/Court means for PDP
The impression in the last two years was that the main opposition party, the PDP, was as good as a dead contraption due to the myriad of problems that almost pushed it into oblivion in the scheme of things.
So deep was the apprehension that the problem in the party, occasioned by endless legal battles between senators Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff, forced thousands of leaders and supporters of the party to either renounce their membership or defect to another party.
Also, the crisis in the PDP since the time it lost power at the centre, in 2015, had given rise to the emergence of many political parties and groupings as part of realignments ahead of 2019 elections.
So rowdy was the political arena in Nigeria that no one could tell how the next general elections would look like because both the ruling APC and all opposition parties seemed confused.
Therefore, analysts are now of the belief that yesterday’s victory for Makarfi, to greater extent, has doused tension over the fear of a one party state.
The concern was that if PDP disappeared from the scene, the ruling APC will have no reason to beg anyone to bear with it over its apparent inadequacies amidst political turmoil and uncertainty.
This is because, none of the over fifty registered political parties would have the clout of geographical spread and enough financial resources to challenge the ruling APC anywhere and in any election.
The anxiety was palpable in the past months when Sheriff, seen as not “a home grown member of the PDP” kept having his way at different courts in Abuja and Port Harcourt, a development that further polarized the party in no small measure.
Though Sheriff rode roughshad to become PDP national chairman through their scheming, most, if not all of PDP governors fell apart with him over a year ago.
Also, members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, who earlier endorsed Sheriff’s leadership, equally developed wings and shifted their loyalty to Makarfi.
The opposition against the former Borno governor was also sustained by ex-PDP ministers, thereby removing the soul and spirit the party exuded as self-acclaimed leading political organization in Africa.
Pundits and many prominent members of the party had at the height of the imbroglio said nothing but carcass was left of the PDP , not only in Abuja but in many states as only its shadow in the form of factions loyal to either Makarfi or Sheriff existed.
The ugly trend had cost the party gubernatorial and legislative seats in places like Kogi, Ondo and others.
However, yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court, which cannot be appealed in any way or whatever guise, immediately changed the narrative as evidenced in the commentaries that trailed the judgement.
It was as if many PDP chieftains that had hitherto gone to sleep had premonition as to what would transpire at the apex court, considering the messages they issued to the media.
The judgement was indeed a “fresh air” as many of PDP’s nearly forgotten leaders, who disappeared from Abuja for long, suddenly found their way to the federal capital.
Ex- President Goodluck Jonathan has already said the judgement will cement the PDP.
Also, former governors of Jigawa and Kano, Sule Lamido and Ibrahim Shekarau; governors Ayo Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Ekiti and Rivers States; Chief Olabode Bode George, Emeka Ihedioha Ben Obi and Dayo Adeyeye and Professor Jerry Gana were all at the Supreme Court and later at the PDP secretariat, signifying a new realignment in the party.
If his utterances during the protracted battle were anything to go by, Makarfi is in tandem with the zoning of the national chairmanship position of the PDP to the South and the presidential ticket to the North.
He had said severally that he is not interested in contesting for the national leadership of the party. With this in view, he would be tagged in the annals of history if he organizes convention soonest, gives room for a powerful and untainted chairman to emerge from the South; who will in turn not only give alternative voice, but someone that will work towards producing a credible presidential candidate from the North, who will give the APC run for its money in 2019.
And for Sheriff, he would have to take the difficult decision of either swallowing his pride and pay allegiance to Makarfi; join any of the new political parties or form a new one; manoeuvre his way into APC which he initially ditched; or throw away the baby with the bath water and concentrate on his private business.