Kaduna: Continued defection worries PDP
From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna
The current crisis in the ruling party in Kaduna State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is accompanied by the defections of its members to the newly registered opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), continues to give PDP members sleepless nights because they do not seem to be sure of their party’s success in the 2015 elections.
The crisis in the PDP has shown that the party may not find the next election easy as it used to. This is because, the continued defection of its members on daily basis and especially that of the five governors out of the G-7 governors was a big blow to the party, one which they are still finding difficult to overcome.
In Nigeria today, the dominating headlines you read on the pages of newspapers always include PDP lawmakers defecting to APC; PDP ex-chairmen defecting to APC; PDP members defecting to APC; APC leads in the House of Representatives among others. Such headlines have become a daily event.
Almost all states in the federation that are under the PDP government are facing this threat of its members defecting to the opposition party, especially in the northern part of the country.
Kaduna State, which is under a PDP governor, Dr Muktar Ramalan Yero, from where the Vice President Namadi Sambo comes, is also losing its members en masse to the opposition. Although, the governor has not defected, however, there are indications that the recent defection of some key PDP members in the state has sent shivers into the spines of the ruling party.
Those defectors were two former chairmen of the party in the state: Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama Rigachukun and Alhaji Zubairu Sirajo. These people have great influence in the party at local and state levels, because they are adjudged truly grassroots politicians.
They led other ex-commissioners and lawmakers to APC office where they defected, promising to dislodge the state governor come 2015. With Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama’s closeness to the former state governor (now Senator) Ahmed Makarfi, many political observers believe the former governor might be aware of his defection, because Makarfi’s relationship with Vice President has gotten sour for many years.
Investigations have also revealed that there are other political gladiators in the state whose body language has shown that they are also likely to defect to the APC. The former SSG to late Governor Ibrahim Yakowa, Alhaji Samaila Abdullahi Yakawada, and Alhaji Sulaiman Hunkuyi who contested the governorship election in 2003 and 2011 under PDP have since defected to APC.
Political observers are also of the view that defection of people like Audi Makama, Sulaiman Hunkuyi, Zubairu Surajo and other PDP stakeholders disturbed the leadership of the party greatly both at state and national levels which was perceived as the reason for the unscheduled visit of Vice President Namadi Sambo to the state last week Monday.
The VP was in the state to have a consultation with his party leaders, a state which he governed for four years. This, according to observers, is because the current trend is not telling well of his political career.
In fact, while the VP was in town, some leaders of PDP from his constituency, Kaduna North Local Government and that of Kaduna South Local Government also defected to APC in their thousands.
According to the defectors, they left their former party to join the opposition because that is what their supporters wanted.
The PDP which has been ruling the state since transition to civilian rule in 1999 has lost its strength and its members to APC in the state. This development has made many people to ask who wins elections in the state come 2015 between the two parties?
“We are only waiting for 2015 to bury PDP in Kaduna State,” Interim Chairman of APC in the state, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed was quoted to have said while fielding questions from the media recently.
He also stated last week Tuesday, while receiving PDP defectors from Kaduna North Local Government that PDP is finished in Kaduna State.
“We have been placed under tremendous pressure from the first day we received the state leaders of the PDP to open our doors to receive more and more PDP people. PDP is finished in Kaduna,” he said.
However, the PDP state chapter in a statement reacted angrily by describing the defectors as political liability and that they lack political relevance in the state.
The party has however maintained that it is still the strongest and biggest party not only in the state but in the country.
The irony, however, is that even the southern part of the state which is PDP dominated in the past years seems to be angry with the PDP government as they have accused it of abandoning the area.
Which is why political watchers in the area have claimed that late Yakowa’s factor would play a greater role in the next elections, because most of the people in Southern Kaduna are angry as they believe the PDP government abandoned the projects started by the late governor who was from the area and so have resolved to support the opposition come 2015.
In Kaduna, one cannot rule out religious and ethnic sentiments during elections, so another factor that may likely pose a great challenge to Governor Yero’s re-election bid is the issue of religion, because most Christians in the state who are supporters of PDP and are based in the southern part of the state, are gradually withdrawing their support.
The northern part of the state which is Muslim-dominated where the Governor Yero hails may also not support him, because of his cordial relationship with the VP. The people in that part of the state are angry with Namadi Sambo and they believe, as long as the governor is close to his god-father, no meaningful development will be recorded in the state.
So, the fact remains that Governor Yero as a person, may not have a problem with the people, but his political god-father, the VP, has lost the people’s trust and support at the grassroots level, even among the political gladiators in the state.
Namadi may be the VP of the country but lacks popularity in his state and that will greatly affect Governor Yero and PDP’s popularity in the coming election in the state.
Therefore, the current situation in the state presently poses a threat to the position of the state governor, Dr Muktar Ramalan Yero and his chances of winning the next election in 2015 in case he decides to contest, depends on the candidate of the APC in the gubernatorial elections.
If the APC gives a strong candidate its ticket, somebody who the people like, no doubt, they will sweep the votes without any strong opposition from the ruling party.
That is why, in an attempt by leadership of the opposition to lure the Southern Kaduna people into the new party, they have visited the area few months ago and were said to have receive a warm welcome by the elders of the area.
If APC is able to break through Southern Kaduna politics, they need not campaign much in the northern part of the state, because already, they have massive supporters there.
Going by what happened in 2011 election where PDP loyalists were targeted in the northern part of the state during the post-election violence, this incident has shown that PDP has a lot to do before it could win back the heart of the people in that part of the state come 2015.
But, despite the problem in his party, Governor Yero may still have the sympathy of the people as he is also doing his best to win their support, particularly those from southern part of the state with his recent visit to religious and traditional rulers in the area during Christmas. The governor’s supporters also believe that those in northern part will not go against their own during the election because he is one of them from the area and that cannot be ruled out.
Although, Governor Yero is yet to declare his intention to re-contest his position but many are of the view that he has a lot of work to do if at all he wants to keep his position come 2015. As for now, only time will tell who occupies the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, come 2015.
