PDP Convention: Intrigues, horse-trading as Ogbulafor emerges chairman

By Debo Abdulai - 09.03.2008

THE 2008 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) promised to be full of drama and high tech intrigues. It did, as latest reports indicate that for over 48 hours, stakeholders within the party, especially the powerful Governors Forum, held down the party over the choice of who becomes its national chairman.

Before Saturday, the media was awash with reports that the contest was between former governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Sam Egwu and former Senate president, Anyim Pius Anyim. But as at 4 am on Saturday, the pendulum of the party had finally swung in favour of Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, former national secretary of the party during the Audu Ogbeh-led cabinet.

In fact at the Eagle square in Abuja on Saturday all the chairmanship aspirants came on stage, led by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and annouced their withdrawal from the race.

Chief Iwuanyanwu hinged their decision on the moves by the goevrnors, the NEC of the party and other stakeholders.

In his acceptance speech, Ogbulafor promised to consolidate on the achievements of his predecessors.

He commended the other aspirants, saying that “the Nigeria project is greater than all of us’’.

The national chairman promised to bring back the founding fathers of the party who left for one reason or the other.

He also promised to cooperate with President Umaru Yar’Adua, the governors and other officials elected on the platform of the PDP.

How did Ogbulafor, the dark horse, emerge? Sunday Tribune gathered that the choice of Egwu would have been achieved by majority of the governors who ordinarily would have pushed their delegates into voting for Sam Egwu who incidentally was also the choice of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the party’s BOT chairman.

But, the need to save the party from Obasanjo and the need to save the party from being hijacked by some politicians outside the party who were alleged to be the financiers of the Anyim group forced the governors to prevail on Obasanjo to accept Ogbulafor as a compromise candidate.

Their thinking, according to Sunday Tribune findings, was to ensure a crisis -free tenure for Ogbulafor by not making someone who was overtly opposed to OBJ - which incidentally is the major undoing of the G-21 as the national chairman and someone who would be his stooge the chairman.

Also some of the new governors were reportedly uncomfortable with Egwu because they feared he would be in sync more with his colleagues who are now in their second term and in the Senate.

Sunday Tribune f urther gathered that for the party to have finally settled for Ogbulafor was not an easy choice, especially that he did not campaign neither did he print any poster.

The horse-trading began at 10pm on Friday when the governors met Obasanjo and Yar’Adua where they impressed it on Obasanjo to prevail on Egwu to step down while it was also resolved that Anyim, who was overtly opposed to Obasanjo would not be the next chairman of the party. At that time too the governors had also secured the backing of the House of Representatives for Vincent Ogbulafor. Sunday Tribune gathered that while Yar’Adua appeared uninterested in the whole proceedings because he favoured the chance for all contestants to try their luck, Obasanjo was said to have been skeptical. The meeting broke around 12 midnight for more consultations.

A visibly unsettled Anyim, Sunday Tribune gathered, faced with the prospect of losing an ambition he was primed for, moved to the governors one-on-one in desperation. When he met with some of the governors he was reportedly asked if it was true that he would remove Obasanjo as BOT chairman through a constitutional amendment his group was already planning. He could not give a definite answer.

Thus, when the meeting resumed at 2am, Obasanjo had agreed with the proposition of Ogbulafor who he saw as ‘someone who is less dangerous for his camp’.

Immediately the governors got the endorsement of Obasanjo for Ogbulafor, they mobilized N500 million for him to embark on a ‘thank you’ visit to all the delegates, on state by state basis.

Interestingly, the Ogbulafor ticket was pushed by some of the stakeholders of the party who were both sympathetic to OBJ and the future of the party, especially the need for it to distance itself from the two contending camps.