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The internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is taking different twists and turns with one man acting out what look like a spoiler role in a bizarre political movie script, keeping observers wondering why the main opposition party has not acted decisively ever since by applying the necessary precautionary measures and crisis management tools.
It seems that since Mr. Nyesom Wike lost the PDP presidential primaries he has refused to accept the reality of the situation. And all efforts by the party hierarchy to mollify him have proved abortive. All peace overtures initiated by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate have been rebuffed by Wike who has resorted to doing things politically abhorrent just to spite his party, using every occasion as an opportunity to pour invectives on the party leadership while intimidating and undermining the interests of the individuals in his state who are loyal to the party leadership and the presidential flag bearer.
At a recent conference organized by the wives of Lagos State officials at Eko Hotels Lagos, Wike publicly endorsed Babajide Sanwolu, the incumbent Lagos State Governor and the APC gubernatorial candidate in forthcoming election ahead of Mr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) the PDP candidate.
That was extremely provocative, odious and in bad taste. It is a direct affront on the party. He did it to undermine the PDP hierarchy. It is anti-party activity of the worst degree. For a public officer of his status, a serving governor and a former minister, his behavior is not just childish but queer and eccentric, calling to question his state of mind. Some say that he is manifesting the traits of a frustrated and a drowning man. And by this, he is trivializing his position, demeaning his personality thereby putting his political future in jeopardy. Some see his behavior as a game of self-destruct for no political group can accommodate a pugnacious character like Wike.
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It is clear to everyone by this very act that Wike is not ready to settle things with the PDP. Wike has got his mind made up. He is ready to do more damage. And even if the party accedes to his outrageous demand and forces Ayu to resign, Wike will still work against the party since he lost the presidential ticket and missed the VP slot. To him, since he can’t get it let everything scatter. This is crab mentality. My take on this is that the party can call him to order by applying the appropriate sanction according to the party’s constitution.
I do understand the mentality of people like Wike with false sense of entitlement and false notion of power. Dialogue and persuasion mean nothing to him. The only thing people like him understand is nuisance value. Just as I have observed in an earlier piece on Wike’s belligerent attitude to the party that launched him to limelight that, he now thinks that the PDP is his private corporation and he confirmed it in a recent public show where he said that those who claimed to be the founding fathers of the party have sold their shares. Invariably he thought that since he had never left the party therefore the party is now his to call the shots. His interest is not neither the party nor the nation but self. He is just using the campaign for a southern chairman as a camouflage as is typical of Nigerian politician to latch in on ethnic and religious sentiments to prosecute personal battles. If Ayu is a Moslem, Wike would have asked why should the party’s presidential candidate and the chairman be of the same faith? A typical Nigerian politician will appraise the system and processes as fair when he wins otherwise they are flawed and he will evoke religious and ethnic sentiments as tools to fight. It was only Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe that has ever admitted to have rigged election in this country when he declared after the botched SDP presidential primaries in 1992 that: “we all rigged but Yar’Adua out-rigged us.”
Clearly, Wike’s attitude clearly shows that he didn’t leave the party in 2015 when some members left because he had no choice. He couldn’t have abandon Jonathan and Patience his wife that sponsored him and made him governor of River State. And he couldn’t have gone to APC to consort with Amaechi his political enemy. So, all the talk about building the party when others left is pure balderdash. If he so why does he want to pull down the so-called foundation that he had laid because someone refused to resign his position? Yes, Wike cannot claim to rescue the party when others were not there and then plot to destroy the same party he claimed he had rescued. That is an irreconcilable contradiction. How can Wike claim that he has no problem with PDP or its presidential but uses every occasion to attack the party?
The truth is that Wike is battling for the soul of PDP. He wants to install a surrogate chairman that he can control. He is not fighting for the interest of the South. Uche Secondus whom he initially installed and drove away before backing Ayu is from River State. Obi whom he denigrated and facilitated his exit from PDP is from the same South.
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Wike’s case is a classical case of power illusion. Wike erroneously thought he had the party in his pocket but the result of the party’s presidential primaries proved otherwise and hence his frustration. Wike is not known to have worked anywhere before venturing into politics so politics is everything to him. So, to him it is a do-or-die affair like most “professional” politicians in Nigeria. He is obviously in a dilemma situation. His pride and his infantile ego are confusing him. It appears that he doesn’t know how to retrace his steps without bruising his bloated ego therefore he would want the party to sanction him to make room for him to defect to another but the PDP silence is frustrating him the more.
In another dimension, Wike’s case can be viewed as a paranoiac situation that will require sanction as a therapy. I will advise the PDP leadership to apply the necessary sanction to douse the tension and let the world know that there is no crisis in PDP; just the attitude of one implacable individual who lost an election and refused to be comforted. Suspension or outright expulsion from the party will be condign in this circumstance. Applying appropriate sanction will not only help the party concentrate on the onerous task ahead but will also bring Wike to his senses. The PDP obviously has nothing to lose by sanctioning Wike. It makes no difference if Wike is inside or outside the party since he will not work for the party even if he is inside as it stands now. Moreover, Wike has no option otherwise he must left PDP. He cannot enter APC because of Rotimi Amaechi and he can’t pitch his tent with Obi whom he had denigrated in Labor Party and that is why he has unashamedly declared that he is not leaving PDP.
Indeed, Wike and people like him should be made to understand that leadership does not need individuals obsessed with personal ego. Service is not fixation with selfish interest but about what is generally acceptable and desirable. Negotiations should always be with the principle of win-win not on personal whims. Wike is demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu whom the party’s NWC has given a clean bill of health. Will Wike’s choice override that of the NWC? And if Ayu has pledged to resign if the North produces the presidential candidate, was it with Wike alone that he made the pledge? And what is wrong with Ayu resigning after the election as he has promised?
Gozie Irogboli
goziei@yahoo.com
