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Tension as New PDP train hits Jonathan’s home state

The formation of the New Peoples Democratic Party in President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa, is redefining the politics in the state SIMON UTEBOR, writes.

When in September aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party formed a splinter group in Bayelsa State, some political observers dismissed it as a fluke.

The emergence of a parallel PDP in the President’s home state has undoubtedly raised concerns among leaders of the state executive council of the party whose loyalty is to Dr. Bamanga Tukur and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Though the Seriake Dickson-led state government had said there was no cause for alarm, many do not share this optimism.

Those in this school of thought argue that the emergence of  the New PDP in the state has a far reaching implication for the party’s fortunes than the administration was willing to admit.

For one, they argue that “home trouble” for the President may mean a bad omen for his yet-to-be declared 2015 re-election bid.

The Chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the New PDP, Mr. Richard Kpodo, and members of his executive had been declared wanted by the state police command.

Kpodo’s allegiance to former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva is an open secret. He now serves as a rallying point for supporters of the erstwhile governor whose frosty relationship with President Jonathan is known.

Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr. Godwin Sidi, a former youth leader of the PDP in the South-South, said the decision to declare support for the faction was due to the fact that the Tukur-led PDP lacked internal democracy.

Sidi said, “The PDP system is not working properly because some things were not taken seriously. First, the dissolution of constituted state executive councils and abnormalities in the system. So, we are now saying that this was not the basis of forming a party and we decided to break away.

“The argument that we are doing all this because of Timipre Sylva is not true.

“I personally have never worked for Sylva in any way. I have never got appointment from him. I did not execute a single contract during his administration.

“So, why would they now tie our faction to Sylva? I agree that he is my friend – from the same Bayelsa. It is not because he is my friend. I have been a zonal youth leader in South-South. It is a party that I have served.

“As regards Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Jonathan’s feud, what we are saying is (that it is) strictly a party matter. We are saying there is crisis in the party. Though we are in the same group, fine. I do not want to dismiss that, but it is not true that he (Amaechi) is behind us. We are saying that what is happening in Rivers State is not right and we have tried in several ways to correct it.

“We are also saying that the election that brought Bamanga Tukur to power as the national chairman of the PDP was not properly done and that he should go. It is as simple as that.”

Responding to a question as to whether the activities of the faction was not a threat to Jonathan’s possible 2015 re-election bid, he said Jonathan had no moral justification to seek for a “third term.”

According to him, the President and the Vice-President, are on the same ticket, as such, since Jonathan swore an oath of office and completed the term of late Umaru Yar’Adua, he had completed his first term and that he was currently serving out his second term.

“So, this is his tenure that is coming to an end, why would he now say he wants to run for the third time? Someone before him tried it and we kicked against it.

“I am a Bayelsa person, there is no sentiment. Personally I am going to the Supreme Court for it to interpret Jonathan’s tenure. It is after that we will know whether he is going for third term or for second term. It is the Supreme Court that will interpret that,” he said.

But the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Makbere John, dismissed the Richard Kpodo-led faction of the party. He said they were not registered members of the PDP.

He explained that it was curious that they were insisting on retaining the name of the PDP. He said, it was better if they left to form a new party if they felt so aggrieved instead of using the name and logo of the PDP in the pursuit of a “campaign of calumny.”

Makbere said, “Why are they sticking to the name of PDP? “It is like you want to separate from your husband by way of divorce and join another spouse, you should feel free to answer the name of your new spouse.

“Go and ask them when last they paid their party dues. Those are the issues we are raising with most of them. It is not every political appointee that is a legitimate member of the PDP. Ask them to tender their membership cards.

“As far as we legitimate members of the party are concerned, those people who are crying wolf are not members of PDP. It is for reasons that some persons do not want Jonathan to come back. And because Sylva is anti-Jonathan. Sylva is the brain behind the whole thing. Kpodo got his empowerment through Sylva. Can’t you see the handwriting?”

Makbere berated Sidi for saying Jonathan had no moral justification to run for second term.

He said Sidi was in no position to say that Jonathan had no moral justification. The PDP scribe noted that Sidi was not conversant with the spirit and letters of the constitution.

He said, “Are you saying that Bill Clinton or Barack Obama’s vice-president who served for eight years with them is not entitled to contest the Presidency? And if he eventually wins, he is not entitled to enjoy a second tenure? That is a rhetoric that will answer that question that he is raising. And if that answers it, I do not think it is an issue to be raised.”

Makbere, who introduced himself as a lawyer, said he had handled litigations up to the Supreme Court level many times and was prepared to meet members of the ‘so called New PDP’ at the apex court should they choose to take up the matter.

Dickson chose the venue of the monthly transparency briefing in October, to allude to the existence of the splinter group in his domain. He dismissed them as people who were of no political consequence.

He said, “When the time comes, we would sort them out. We know them and they are merely ranting.”

But members of the faction who are bent on making a political statement recently took the governor to task over the €60m Tied Direct Aid facility from the government of Poland.

Ordinarily, a grant or an aid of this nature is supposed to attract accolades especially in a state in dire need of basic infrastructure and the creation of jobs for its growing youth population.

But the proposed €60m (about N13bn), which the government said was a grant by the Polish Government to build a first-class maritime academy, had become an antithesis.

Dickson had at different forums dismissed speculations over the facility as a non-issue. He said the state accepted the grant as part of measures to open up the investment space as well as develop its potential in the maritime sector.

Civil society groups have joined members of the factional  PDP in alleging that the state government was being economical with the truth because the facility was a loan and not a grant.

The opposition insists that taking such a loan at a time the Dickson administration had boasted about the state’s liquidity was an indication that the administration lacked prudent management especially with the huge allocation it receives from the federation account.

Due to this skepticism, they decided to challenge the government to a debate in order to set the records straight.

In response, the governor insisted that the state enjoyed a solid financial base, saying that his government had no business borrowing to finance infrastructural development.

Dickson said, “The proposed €60m TDA from Poland is not a loan as being rumoured by members of the opposition.

“The financial assistance is interest-free and is aimed at financing the proposed Maritime Academy at Okpoama in Brass Island Local Government.”

He further explained that his administration was not taking any loan from any bank or government, rather the Polish Government had agreed to finance the proposed academy and to recoup its investment within 30 years.

It appears the governor’s explanation would not suffice as the opposition insists that the government’s position was at variance with that of the House of Assembly which earlier said the facility was a loan. While the debate lingers, it is safe to say politics in the state will not be the same again.