Report says:Without a doubt, the recent political development in Rivers State has changed political calculations in the state ahead of the 2015 governorship election.
While the controversy over who becomes Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s successor is still raging, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party threw its members off balance with an announcement that it was jettisoning its age-long convention of zoning.
Before this announcement, there was a political understanding which favoured the rotation of the office of the governor between the upland and riverine areas in the state.
The Ogoni people, who belong to the riverine areas as well as their upland counterparts, did not spare any opportunity to tell the world that it was their turn to produce the next governor.
However, the state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, dismissed these agitations when he declared that eligible members of the party, irrespective of ethnic nationality or senatorial district, were free to seek the party’s nomination to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Obuah, who read from a communiqué issued after the state PDP executive meeting, explained that the decision to allow all the senatorial districts and ethnic nationalities to contest the 2015 governorship election was to avoid the imposition of any candidate on the people. He pointed out that the party’s decision will also make it possible for the best governorship candidate to emerge.
He expressed confidence that the state PDP had the capacity to manage the number of aspirants this decision would throw up.
Obuah said, “The state chapter of the party has not and shall not zone the governorship ticket of the party to any ethnic nationality, senatorial district or local government area. Consequently, all constitutionally qualified members of the party are free to vie for the party’s ticket to allow for the best candidate to emerge.
“We are saying we will allow everybody, no matter their sex; no matter their culture. This is because we want to present the best for Rivers State. No matter how many they (governorship aspirants) are, we are capable of screening them and the best candidate will be presented to stand for election.”
Not everyone appears satisfied with the party chairman’s reasoning. A group of party supporters under the aegis of the Rivers PDP Third Force Movement described the decision as the highest form of bias.
The group said the chairman’s announcement was at variance with the zoning principle which was part and parcel of the party’s tradition since 1999. This, members of the group argue, must be strictly adhered to. Secretary-General of the socio-political group, Mr. Oprite Amachree, warned that the party stood the risk of losing the 2015 elections if the decision was not reversed.
He said “In as much as we agree that everybody has the right to contest election, we believe that because of the existence of diverse groups and interests that are involved in the politics of Rivers State, the zoning principle must be adhered to. With this decision, the state PDP has set a precedent and it is expected that such a precedent should be followed.
“The declaration of no zoning in Rivers State by the state PDP is wrong. If Felix Obuah and Nyesom Wike are insisting that there is no zoning, what we say is that the Rivers Third Force Movement will mobilise and stand against the party to make sure it (Rivers PDP) falls.”
According to him, based on zoning in the past, power must shift to Rivers South-East, insisting that Rivers West and Rivers South have each produced occupants of the Government House.
He said, “With zoning, the Rivers South-East senatorial district should take the governorship position in the state come 2015. Rivers South-East comprises the Ogoni, the Opobo and the Andoni. We say so because that is the only senatorial district that has not produced the governor of the state. Rivers-West has produced the governor, Rivers South has produced. Now, it should go to Rivers South-East in the interest of justice and fair play.”
Amachree argued that money should not be used as the determining factor for who should govern the state instead, individual competence should top the criteria for choosing the representatives of the people. Specifically, Amachree said his group was opposed to the aspiration of the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike.
He argued that it would be unfair for the rest of the state for Wike to succeed Amaechi because both of them are from the same senatorial district.
“There are lots of people that are richer than President Goodluck Jonathan, but they cannot vie for the seat of the President,” Amachree added.
A leading member of the PDP in the state, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, however disagreed with reasons advanced by Amachree and the Third Force. He argued that if not for Wike’s intervention, the state chapter of the party would have gone extinct. Alabraba explained that Wike’s decision to fund the party made it possible for it to continue to exist and increase in strength. He recalled that Amaechi left with the governorship mandate of the PDP to the All Progressives Congress.
In explaining his support for the party’s decision to jettison the zoning for the governorship race, Alabraba explained that Amaechi took the former PDP structure with him to the APC.
He pointed out that most members of the state chapter of the party currently jostling for the governorship position did nothing to fund the party when the governor left.
He said “Without Wike, the PDP would have been extinct in Rivers State. Governor Amaechi practically took the structure of the PDP with him to the APC.
“When it happened, most members of the PDP felt dejected and did nothing until Wike rose to re-invent the PDP in Rivers State.
“Most of those who are angling to run for the sole ticket of the party in 2015 are identifying with the party today because of its popularity in the state. How can you show interest to run on the platform of a party without contributing to the growth and development of the party?”
In his contribution to the debate, a public affairs analyst, Mr. Okey Isiocha, described the rotation of elective positions as a normal phenomenon in a society with diverse or heterogeneous cultures and languages. According to Isiocha, the only way the people can eschew bad blood or politics of bitterness is to embrace a strict rotation of all elective positions. He pointed out that zoning of a political office like that of the governor would give every ethnic nationality, senatorial district and local government area a sense of belonging and satisfaction.
He said “Truth be told, if democracy must work in Nigeria, political parties must respect the popular wishes of the people. It is not morally right for a political party to come out and declare that the governorship position in the state will not be zoned when a particular zone is expecting that it is its turn to occupy such a position, which other zones have occupied in the past. Such attitude has no other name other than injustice.”
Speaking on the same issue, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Mr. James Baridon, said political parties have the right to decide on the best way for it to win governorship election. Baridon argued that there was nothing wrong with a party throwing the battle for a governorship ticket open to everybody, adding that the possibility of the best candidate emerging as the flag bearer of the party was high. He, nevertheless, cautioned that the motive behind the decision of the Rivers State PDP should not be selfish or pecuniary; adding that such reasons could destroy the electoral chances of the party.
Baridon stressed that “We should not begrudge any political party that feels the best way to present a formidable candidate for a governorship election is to throw the contest open. It is part of democracy and it is not compulsory that every elective position at every time must be contested through zoning. But we hope that the decision of the Rivers State PDP not to zone the governorship position is not based on selfish or monetary reasons.”
Surprisingly, elders in the Rivers PDP have remained silent on the latest development ostensibly in order not to be accused of engaging in anti-party activities. Some members of the party are alleged to be engaged in an underground move towards the emergence of a governorship candidate that will suit the unwritten zoning agreement of PDP elders in the state. Many political pundits believe that it may not be long before the new ‘no zoning’ rule will cause an implosion in the party.
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