by Mark Amaza

When the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) made former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff its Interim National Chairman in February 2016 until its National Convention later that year, many Nigerians were shocked. It was not only the fact that Sheriff was a relatively new member of the party, having just joined in 2014; it was also the fact that the PDP had been the ones who consistently accused him of sponsoring the Boko Haram terrorist group, and using that accusation to taint the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) that he was a founding member of.

However, it was not long before even Governors Ayo Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Ekiti and Rivers State respectively who both championed his emergence as Interim Chairman joined the Board of Trustees and PDP Elders’ Forum to reject him. They moved to replace him with former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi, which Sheriff protested at the courts and has gotten the latest ruling in his favor.

This crisis has cost the party a lot as it is likely the main reason it couldn’t retain Ondo State at the state governorship elections in November 2016: both factions presented different candidates: Eyitayo Jegede from the Makarfi faction and Jimoh Ibrahim from the Sheriff faction. It took the judgment of the Supreme Court on November 24th, a mere two days before the election. It is not unlikely that this confusion was a reason behind the party’s loss.

But this now begs the question: why did the party make Sheriff the chairman in the first place?

It appears that the proponents of a Sheriff-led PDP were interested in having him bankroll the party. Since the loss of the Presidency in 2015, the party has fallen on hard times as not only is it not in power at the centre, but has also lost many prominent members. These members have either defected to the APC or have retired from partisan politics.

Upon assumption of office, Sheriff said he met huge debts at the party of almost N1billion including backlogs of salaries which he set about clearing. There is no official detail of where the money he used in clearing the salaries backlog came from, but the rumor mill has been buzzing that he injected N2billion of his personal cash into the party.

However, where they miscalculated is thinking that he will step aside easily, underestimating him as a political fighter. Since leaving public office in 2011, Sheriff has been searching for political relevance, especially on the national stage. However, he was not so lucky – not only did his former political godson and successor, Governor Kashim Shettima alienate him in the politics of Borno State, he was relegated to the background at the national level of the then nascent APC, even clashing openly with its National Leader, Bola Tinubu.

In his joining the PDP, Sheriff was handed a political lifeline as well as APC was rid of a prominent member who brought to them a lot of negative publicity due to his alleged links with Boko Haram. He has also become PDP’s problem to deal with.

It does not seem likely that the leadership crisis within the party will be dealt with anytime soon; at least, not until the Supreme Court rules on the appeal that the Makarfi faction has promised to file regarding the Court of Appeal judgment.

Knowing how slow Nigeria’s court system can be, it is likely that the judgment will not be until next year at the earliest. The question now becomes if the party will have enough time to work out the differences between the party in time for party primaries and prepare for the 2019 General Elections.

In the meantime, the party will continue to struggle and in the event of elections, both factions are likely to present their own candidates.

These really are tough times for the PDP.