By Ayo Yusuf
Worried about the future of the party if it’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, loses his bid to wrest power from President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the People’s Democratic Party has began to take remedies that would save the party from going under.
One of these steps can be seen in the vigorous attempts being made to instal Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the party’s national chairman. A former senate president and two term governor of Kwara State, Dr. Saraki is believed to have the pedigree and influence to stop the erosion of the party’s support base by a Tinubu presidency.
Party members are bent on having Senator Saraki lead the party because they feared that the Tinubu administration would try to systematically dismantle the PDP by giving juicy appointments to some of the party’s more influential members, and generally making it difficult for the party to remain a strong opposition force.
Party leaders have decided on a strong reorganization of the party to be able to face pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress and a Saraki leadership is thought to be the best possible hope for the party’s resurgence.
The PDP has faced its worst internal crisis during a presidential election when former Rivers State governor, Nwesom Wike led for other governors in a group called the G5 and made the removal of Dr. Iyorcha Ayu as party chairman a major condition for peace.
Recently, a Benue High Court sacked Dr. Ayu as the national chairman, creating a huge vacuum in the leadership of the PDP which installed Ambassador Illya Umar Damagun in an acting capacity.
The New Diplomat learnt that those who wish to ensure the party remained on strong footing are canvassing desperately for a Saraki chairmanship because he has both the influence and the popularity to keep members from leaving the party in droves as they face the prospect of the next four years in the limbo.
A member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) told our reporter that Saraki’s homes in Abuja and Lagos have been seeing a lot of traffic as people come in groups or as individuals to try to make the former Senate president accede to their request. “The mere fact that Saraki accepts to be chairman will send shockwaves into the minds of APC leaders and also help us regain confidence that we have a bright prospect,” he said.
Already, The New Diplomat has learnt that the national secretariat of the party which was a beehive of activity only two months ago have been deserted and fight seems to have gone out from a majority of the members who see very little chance of their candidate winning at the tribunal.
Apart from his political sagacity, Dr. Saraki is also favoured as chairman of the party because he enjoys wide acceptability not only among the various groups of the party, and the traditional old guards like former President Ibrahim Babangida, he is also widely popular with the Nigerian electorate.
Moreover, observers note that after the PDP lost the 2019 election, the party fell into disarray until in 2021 when Saraki handled the reconciliation assignment of the party that brought life back into the party when it was hemorrhaging after the 2019 loss of the presidential election.
However, the former Senate President is not eager to be the party’s chairman and he has serially refused the proposal arguing that talk of the next executive should wait until the party has exhausted its chances at the presidential election court.
He is reported to express fears that talk of a new exco now can only result in a more divided house at a time when the party needs all its wits about it. Close sources indicate that the former senate president is not keen on being the face of the party but would rather work in the background to assist in whatever way he could.
As pressure continue to mount however, there are chances that the party may be able to convince the former governor to take over the chairmanship mantle.
