Rotimi Fasan: PDP’s tale of the absurd

by Rotimi Fasan

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Nothing proves Jonathan’s inability to handle the crisis staring him in the face than his meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose absence at the special convention should have been ominous sign of the rebellion in the making. Obasanjo had to respond to yet another attack from Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, only a day before.

The house of cards that is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seems to have finally fallen apart. From the beginning, the PDP like the typical Nigerian party was a marriage of convenience among persons and groups united by no greater purpose than the desire to share in the Nigerian national cake that everyone is loathe to bake.

There is no way a party founded on such base motive can stand. Nor does it deserve to stand. Yet this falling apart of Wadata House is more apparent than real.

The party will not fall apart. At best what is playing out is a struggle for a greater control of the house among contending members. In due course they would make the required concessions among themselves and continue on the gravy train as if nothing ever happened.

The August 31 rebellion that was executed in Abuja during the PDP’s so-called special convention to rubberstamp a series of alike self-serving and illegal policies and steps taken to strengthen the slippery hold of the present leadership of the party, right from the beleaguered chair, Bamanga Tukur, and President Goodluck Jonathan- this rebellion was a long way coming. It was not altogether unexpected but the form it took, the time and place, appear rather sudden.

The disagreement within the party and the anger fuelled among estranged party members all seemed well papered over in the days leading up to the convention. Nothing looked set to give way- not just days after the wife of the President and her sidekicks held residents of Abuja hostage with their barely disguised campaign for 2015. But it seemed things had got to a head and something had to give leading to the walkout by the rebel team.

But the face-off in Abuja is just one more case of PDP’s absurd tales. The Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led new PDP has quite a large following. With nearly 30 senators and over 100 representatives and at least seven of the PDP governors, without mentioning supporters at the local level, there is no doubt that the breakaway faction packs a powerful punch that could wreak serious damage on the PDP.

The first casualty would not even be Tukur whose authority as chairman of the ‘largest party in Africa’ comes under question increasingly. The first and actual casualty in the event the crisis in the party is not quickly resolved would be President Jonathan. The President and his supporters may pretend that he is unmoved by his loss of party control but only a blinded supporter would deny the potential of the present crisis to doom Jonathan’s post-2015 presidential ambition.

It should be clear now to President Jonathan that his hold on the PDP is very tenuous indeed even if his wife continues to pretend that she can force Nigerians to reckon with her in her determined effort to remain in Aso Rock as ‘first lady’.

Nothing proves Jonathan’s inability to handle the crisis staring him in the face than his meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose absence at the special convention should have been ominous sign of the rebellion in the making. Obasanjo had to respond to yet another attack from Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, only a day before.

But it was to the same man that Jonathan turned when push turned to shove, proving real party control resides outside Aso Rock.  After all said and done, the PDP will find a way round this crisis no matter how contrived. The fear of losing power will prove greater than any determined pursuit of principle. But the Tukur-Baraje tackle is just one of two absurd tales being told by the PDP.

The other tale is that of Danbaba Suntai, the ailing governor of Taraba State. A couple of weeks ago, minders of the Governor brought him home after 10 months in hospitals abroad following an air crash that he had no business being involved in had he been mindful of his position as governor and cared for his safety and health.  There had been talks and questions about the fitness of the Governor to continue in office in spite of his long stay in hospitals.

It was in a bid to silence those calling for the removal of the Governor that his supporters decided to stage the elaborate charade of his return to good health and, hopefully, his position as governor by returning him home with fanfare.

But more than doing anything to raise hope in the minds of Nigerians, the picture of Mr. Suntai being helped out of the plane only proves that he would be far better off convalescing in his personal house and under the watchful eyes and care of medical care givers and his family than anywhere around the Taraba State Government House.

It is tragic enough that Mr. Suntai took the careless and definitely irresponsible step of flying an airplane without training and even landing in an airport not equipped for night flight. But even more tragic is his determination to continue in office in spite of his very obvious ill health. For goodness sake, this man had to be virtually carried out of the plane on arrival in Nigeria.

What can he do as governor if he could hardly stand on his own feet? We’ve been here before with President Umaru Yar’Adua whose wife and a few hangers-on propped him up until it was too late to sustain the lie that he was strong enough to continue in office. Surely, it’s not Mr. Suntai that is talking.

Rather, some people are doomed to repeat history and in this case with its dose of the absurd by wanting to keep a man who would be better served as a private citizen in public office. The sentimental nonsense that Garba Umar, the Deputy Governor, is disloyal to the governor will not bear scrutiny. It’s the fate of the people of Taraba that is at stake here.

Nigerian politicians do far less than their office demands at the best of times to say nothing of someone whose health is as fragile as that of Danbaba Suntai. We do sympathise with the Governor but that shouldn’t be at the expense of the millions of people who voted for him. It’s exit time for Suntai and he should do so with dignity.

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Read this article in the Vanguard Newspapers
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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