PERISCOPING THE PDP LEADERSHIP CRISES
PERISCOPING THE PDP LEADERSHIP CRISES
By: Akin Babajide
The crises that have rocked the Peoples Democratic Party in the past two years commenced not too long after its March 24, 2012, national convention at which a new set of National Working Committee (NWC) was inaugurated at the Eagle Square venue of the event. The crises commenced with strong opposition to the moves of the then PDP leadership let by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to clip the wings of state governors, who are regarded as very powerful stakeholders; a move that later consumed several members of the party’s NWC. In the unfolding scenario, some concerned PDP members went to court to challenge the validity of the election of some PDP national officers, resulting into the resignation of the officers concerned. Only four national officers – the National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; the National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; the National Auditor, Bode Mustapha; and the National Financial Secretary, Bolaji Anani, were adjudged by a report of the Independent National Electoral Commission to have been duly elected at the convention. A prolonged disagreement among South-west members led to litigations that saw the exit, through court rulings, of Oyinlola, Mustapha and Segun Oni, then National Vice-Chairman of the South-west zone. Soon, another convention was organised for a proper and valid election, an event that ushered in the present set of NWC members. The crises continued unperturbed and shook the PDP violently to its very foundation, ultimately leading to the resignation of Tukur who was accused of coming into office with a pre-conceived agenda of antagonising state governors, thus paving way for the emergence of former Bauchi State governor, Ahmad Adamu Mu’azu as the party’s National Chairman. Mu’azu’s reconciliatory moves and achievements within the past few months have since earned him the sobriquet – ‘’the game changer.’’
Mu’azu’s agenda has been driven by a very strong determination to evolve drastic changes, inspiring new political aims and aspirations, genuine reconciliation and recovery of lost grounds; and a change that is believed would earn PDP leadership trust and increased respect of its teeming members. Mu’azu’s leadership style is viewed as that of managing the party based on the principles of transparency, accountability and responsible leadership, that would guarantee a more enlightened followership. The national chairman, during his inauguration pledged to navigate the party away from the path of fragmentation and other forms of distractions, by pulling it out of credibility problems, in order to effect positive changes in running the ruling party. One of the first steps Mu’azu took was to throw away the expulsion order clamped on Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure by the NWC headed by his predecessor, based on the recommendations of the Umaru Dikko Disciplinary Committee. The committee itself was confronted by credibility problems on account of its composition not being ratified by the PDP National Executive Committee, that is constitutionally empowered to ratify its composition; apart from sitting to consider a matter that was before a court of competent jurisdiction. On claims of illegality of the disciplinary committee, records show that the body was never approved by PDP NEC in line with S.57(2) of the PDP constitution; apart from the pendency of a suit on the matter which was the subject of a disciplinary action by the Dikko Committee. The PDP constitution, S.57(7) states expressly that only the National Executive Committee of the party has the power to entertain disciplinary actions against certain high ranking members of the PDP, including the national secretary.
One issue that has stood out like a sore thumb is the issue of who remains the valid National Secretary of the PDP. In the past 27 months, PDP has had a substantive national secretary – Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola who stepped aside following a controversial court declaration; an acting national secretary, Solomon Onwe, who was succeeded by Dr. Akintoye, an urbane indigene of Lagos State, who was reportedly clandestinely shoved aside, giving way to Professor Olawale Oladipo, described as a protégé of some interests in the South-west. Since these developments arose, the centre has not held for the PDP South-west zone that has been plunged into crises following court cases instituted by a faction of the party in Ogun State. The disagreements among South-west PDP members date back to the administration of the former NWC of the party under Abubakar Kawu Baraje and Haliru Mohammed. The leadership tussle of which faction controls the party in Ogun State, has been exploited to the detriment of elected national officers of PDP from the zone, resulting in protracted court suits instituted by various sides in the avoidable dispute. Eventually, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was sacked by a Federal High Court, Abuja judgement of January 11, 2013, on a faulty premise that he was not validly elected into office; but was reinstated by a Court of Appeal Ruling of November 6, 2013.
Hide message history
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, in its judgement delivered on November 6, 2013, reversed Oyinlola’s sack, declaring that the Abuja Federal High Court which passed the order validating the sack erred in its judgment. The court held that the application filed by the leadership of Ogun PDP, and on which basis the former governor was sacked, was an abuse of court process. The Appellate court held that Justice Abdul-Kafarati ought not to have entertained the application by the Ogun PDP when he did. Delivering the judgement, Justice Tor noted that there were two appeals pending before the Court of Appeal on the issue in dispute, when the Federal High Court, Abuja, which was a lower court, gave its judgment that removed Oyinlola. The Court of Appeal held that the lower court, presided over by Justice Abdul Kafarati was wrong to have given a declaratory judgement against a person that was not a party in the suit that led to such judgment. Invoking Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, the court held that the lower court infringed on Oyinlola’s fundamental human right to fair hearing. In a curious twist, the PDP NWC, after the Court of Appeal pronouncement slain favour of Oyinlola slammed a suspension order on him, ostensibly to prevent Oyinlola from returning to office as national secretary. He has since been kept away from his desk, in spite of the fact that the November 6, 2013 Ruling of the Court of Appeal invalidated the Federal High Court judgement. More confounding is the fact that checks at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court indicate that no Stay of Execution has been granted against the implementation of the Court of Appeal order.
The national leader of PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly counselled the party leadership under Tukur against contesting the Court of Appeal Ruling, in order to pave way for genuine reconciliation and respect for the rule of law. However, the President’s advice was discountenanced, with a few people seizing PDP by the jugular, with the ruling party losing golden opportunities to unite aggrieved parties, enhance the spirit of reconciliation, and promote internal democracy and unity, as are being actively pursued by Mu’azu. A seemingly problematic issue of who is the rightful occupant of the position of PDP national secretary still stands out begging for solution. The Independent National Electoral Commission has informed the Judiciary that it recognises Oyinlola as the PDP National Secretary, based on judicial pronouncements and the result of the PDP national convention of March 24, 2012. To replace Oyinlola , INEC has, therefore, requested the PDP to produce a valid court order that removed the former governor from office, given the fact INEC’s records indicate that Oyinlola was validly elected at the March 24, 2012, national convention of the party.
In an affidavit filed at a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, INEC stated that it would not recognise Prof. Oladipo based on its assurance that the issue before the court is an intra-party dispute which is not justiceable. There are concerns about adherence to the rule of law, particularly about compliance with court orders, the right to fair hearing, and timely hearing and dispensation of justice. The rule of law holds that no branch of government, organisation or individual is above the law, and no public official may act arbitrarily or unilaterally outside the law. In a third context, the term means rule according to a higher law. A group of South-west PDP leaders met in Abuja last Monday to attempt to adopt Oladipo as the zone’s candidate for the position of national secretary at the next convention. However, no communiqué stating the position of the group was published or made formal. Sources say that ‘’the move is suspect and is viewed as pre-empting the party’s NEC which has not blown any whistle, or given any indication as to when precisely the party’s national convention would hold, its agenda, and other issues that would have to be determined by the party’s National Executive Committee. Apart from the foregoing, the meeting itself might not achieve much because the position of national secretary is not currently vacant, logically, technically, and legally.
Some interests from the South-west are said to be determined to continue to work against Oyinlola’s interests, strategising for his succession by Oladipo, who is being accused by Oyinlola sympathisers of coming into office through a flawed process; even as Oladipo has on several occasions vowed publicly, and in his interactions with the media, that he would continue to stay in office as national secretary, in spite of a subsisting Court of Appeal Ruling, as well as the declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission that both declared Oyinlola as the validly elected and legally recognised National Secretary of the PDP. Feelers within the leadership of PDP indicate that the preference for the position of National Secretary at this critical period in the history of the party should be someone who has the capacity and political clout to be able to demonstrate an uncanny ability to put the PDP national secretariat on a sound footing, interact with, and gain the confidence of key stakeholders of the party, including members of the Board of Trustees, National Executive Committee, and state governors, who largely determine the direction of the affairs of the party; as assist the National Chairman to re-positioning the PDP for the attainment of its objectives.
The PDP constitution, Chapter VII, S.49, clearly stipulates that the national secretary shall be elected at the national convention of the party, which means that the whole country is the constituency of the national secretary. Contacted for a professional view, a top bureaucrat who also craved anonymity stated that ‘’it is a an unpardonable misnomer and a breach of administrative procedures for PDP to be operating with two substantive national secretaries at the same time, as no law would ever recognize two substantive holders of the same position. ‘’I have examined the PDP constitution and have discovered that it does not support such illegality. ”Even if Oyinlola’s suspension is in accordance with the PDP constitution, that does not invalidate his position as national secretary except he resigns, or he is legally removed from office. ‘’Oyinlola still has the right to address himself as the validly elected national secretary of the PDP as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, and recognised by INEC. ‘’The implication of allowing such illegality is too grave to be imagined, for such an important position of national secretary which is the custodian of the seal of the party.’’
Reactions immediately the Court of Appeal gave its ruling indicate that ‘’observers wondered whether or not a flagrant refusal to implement the Ruling or Order of a court of competent jurisdiction does not amount to disrespect of the judiciary and violation of the tenets of the rule of law. ‘’The disciplinary committee that was not constituted in line with the relevant provisions of the PDP constitution, was also accused of further entrenching illegality by sitting in judgement over Oyinlola’s alleged anti-party activities; and went further to discountenance information before it about the pendency of a suit on the matter it was considering, and sat over the matter; a development that was viewed as adversative to the dispensation of justice; even as some of the members of the disciplinary committee were lawyers and Officers of the Court, who should ordinarily encourage respect for court decisions and pronouncements. What appeared intriguing is that Olawale Oladipo has continued to parade himself as the PDP National Secretary, in spite of the fact that the subsisting ruling of the Court of Appeal states otherwise. And this is considered contemptuous. ‘’The animosity generated is such that one of the party’s leaders in the South-west, in an interview with the Saturday Punch recently asserted categorically that ‘’Oyinlola is not the National Secretary, but an ordinary member of the PDP.’’ It is surprising that such a disrespectful statement could be made in spite of a subsisting court order which is yet to be set aside or ‘’hanged’’ by a Stay of Execution of the Court of Appeal Order by the Supreme Court. Assuming that the PDP leader’s assertion that is contemptuous is true, he owes it a duty to inform the court and members of the public how Oyinlola was legally and validly removed, and what circumstances led to his removal. Otherwise, that pronouncement may amount to disparaging the Court. When Oyinlola was removed by the Kafarati ruling of January 11, 2013, he was asked to stay off the national secretariat by the Tukur-led NWC and pursue his appeal, and return if his appeal succeeded. All these incidents were reported by the media. When the appeal succeeded, a number of people, in what the media’s reaction described as ‘’ambushing the judiciary,’’ suspended and expelled Oyinlola from office, instead of honouring the Court of Appeal Order. Opinions then indicated that ‘’Where equity and justice prevail, whoever was the occupant of the office of national secretary at the time the Appeal Court Ruling was delivered should have been given ‘’the Oyinlola treatment’’ and requested to keep off the PDP national secretariat to pursue his or her appeal, and return, only if the Supreme Court invalidates the decision of the Court of Appeal. It certainly would not speak positively for anybody to engage in what could be regarded as robust disregard for constitutionalism and the rule of law, as well as a deliberate blatant assault on the judiciary, without due regard for good conscience and morality.Respect for regulations, PDP constitution, truth, law and order, would go a long way in advertising the credibility of the PDP as a truly democratic entity that respects the rule of law.
But so far, solutions to the problem are believed to have largely eluded the party as a result of the negative influence of some aggrieved parties and leaders that have continued to fuel the crises, as a result of personal interests. Whilst the disagreements within the PDP lasted at the National Secretariat during the Tukur era, there were several allegations of acts of impunity, circumvention of the PDP constitution and regulations, as well as the usurpation of the functions and power of the National Executive Committee of the party. However, some well-meaning top leaders of the party are said to be keen on respecting the rule of law, to which President Goodluck Jonathan is deeply committed, even as there are clear signals that those who are truly concerned with the successes of the PDP have advised the party to respect court rulings and regulations of the party. The general feeling at the party’s headquarters is that the PDP needs to be repositioned to recover urgently from wounds inflicted on it in the past. The level to which the party sank before Mu’azu’s entry as national chairman caused great concerns among stakeholders. Upon his emergence as national chairman, some respectable PDP members urged Mu’azu to revisit all allegations of injustice in the party. He was implored to study critically all complaints by various interest groups and stakeholders, particularly those dealing with the circumvention of the PDP constitution and other rules and regulations with a view to correcting them. Mu’azu was also enjoined to embark on reconciliatory moves, particularly those dealing with unilaterally actions taken by his predecessor, as well as reversal of constitutional breaches, including all acts amounting to usurpation of the powers of the PDP National Executive Committee, as well as correct all acts of injustice, and do everything possible to re-unite PDP members who have left the party.
Akin Babajide, a public affairs commentator and PDP member sent in this piece from Lagos.
