In this report, KUNLE ODEREMI scoops on moves among South-West leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reposition themselves ahead the party’s national convention in February.

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party across the six geopolitical zones are not allowing anything to distract them from preparations for the party’s congresses and conventions to elect new officers.

Even in the heat of the recent nationwide strike triggered by hoopla over fuel subsidy removal, the diverse interest groups, caucuses and other categories of stakeholders within the party had stepped up plans for the congresses and the national convention in particular.

Perhaps, owing to the high stake, contenders for the national offices and their field men intensified manouevrings to gain certain advantages over rival camps.  Thus, the campaigns for the positions have taken numerous dimensions, with many of the contenders for the higher offices like National Chairman and National Secretary bombarding other potential delegates and influential party members with text messages concerning their individual ambitions.

Such hi-tech campaign has been most pronounced in the South-West in the past few weeks.  A few of the leading contestants for the position of National Secretary from the zone have launched aggressive campaigns, using a multi-dimensional media approach. Apart from door-to-door approach, other methods being employed to reach out to party members within and outside the zone include occasional telephone calls, text messages and exploring opportunities provided by social gatherings to market their individual candidature.

Top shots of the party in the zone have not been left out in the manoeuvrings because of what one of them told Saturday Tribune during the week on the need for PDP to reclaim its lost glory in the South-West during last April elections.  Thus, the horse trading assumed a feverish pitch last Monday when the leaders met in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. It was said to have been at the instance of PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Former governors, ex-ministers, PDP ex-officio national officers, current and past lawmakers and other zonal officers were reportedly in attendance. Sources said the four-hour closed-door meeting afforded the leaders an avenue to tell themselves some home truths on the prevailing situation in the party in the zone. The leaders reportedly emphasised the necessity to bury whatever differences that might exist and work towards going to the national convention as a formidable team.

From available details concerning proceedings at the meeting, it is apparent that the zone was only anticipating the formal ratification by PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) of the zoning of the position of National Secretary to the South-West. At the moment, there is a greater understanding among stakeholders in the party that the zone should produce the next substantive National Secretary. Feelers indicated that the issue and other matters relating to the race for other elective zonal offices dominated the meeting.

The leaders were said to have taken a critical look at the trend of events on such issues since the birth of the party in 1998 before passing some resolutions. To ensure harmony, fairness and equity, they were said to have come up with a new zoning arrangement for the major offices by taking cognizance of the forms of structure that had been prevalent over time. Under the proposal, the postion of zonal secretary and organisation secretary have been zoned to Ogun State, while such offices like legal secretary and treasury went to Ondo State. Oyo State is to fill the positions of Zonal Auditor and Youth Leader, just as Osun State was given the post of Woman Leader, while Ekiti and Lagos states are to produce Publicity Secretary and Financial Secretary in that order.

However, there were complaints of a seeming marginalisation of Lagos State, based on the new power sharing structure, given its strategic place in national politics.

It was gathered that the leaders demonstrated maturity in handling issues concerning the scramble for the position of National Secretary, just as they considered the history of the position of Vice National Chairman from the zone. Those in the contest for the position of national secretary include some of the finest politicians from the South-West. They include former ministers like Professor Tunde Adeniran and Chief Ebenezer Babatope, as well as an ex-officio, NEC of the party and former  Lagos PDP state secretary, Chief Tunde Daramola and another former minister, Chief Dapo Sarunmi.

Available records showed that Oyo, Lagos and Osun states have all filled the position of zonal vice National Chairman. Therefore, one of the mooted ideas reportedly by some party leaders was that other states in the zone should be given preference in producing the next occupant of the position. How this will work out is left to be seen in the coming weeks as PDP convention approaches. But from the current permutations in some camps within the party, the next substantive PDP National Chairman is likely to be a Muslim. And if the principle of balance, which the party has consistently preached and practised since its inception is anything to go by, many observers contend that the factor could determine the final configuration of PDP’s NEC after the convention.