20100523
ALL AFRICA

Abuja — The race for who succeeds the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, who resigned on May 13, at the weekend, narrowed down to four key contenders.

The top contenders judging by the array of forces massed behind them are Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, former national secretary of the party, Fidelis Ozichukwu, former national vice chairman of the party (South-east), , Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, former senate president and Major-Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, a former minister of external affairs.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP to be presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan will meet on Tuesday to ratify which of the contenders will lead the party.

Ogbulafor caved in to pressure and resigned over the court case arising from the N104 million fraud allegedly committed while he was minister in the presidency under the Obasanjo administration. THISDAY gathered that the various forces in the PDP that usually decide the trend of events in the party are now in different camps, suggesting that no consensus may be achieved on the issue.

THISDAY also gathered that the selection of the party chairman became a knotty issue after the governors' caucus consisting of the 28 governors who are members of the party met with President Jonathan a week ago and told him to select any candidate from the South-east who he feels comfortable to work with as the leader of the party.

The governors, the source said, however advised the President to ensure that the next party chairman is "a man of stature, status and antecedent befitting the chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria."

Nwodo enjoys the solid support of the governors of Enugu and Ebonyi states, Mr. Sullivan Chime and Chief Martin Elechi. The two governors are said to be mobilising support among their colleagues and other party leaders for the candidate who they believe has the knowledge and experience as one of the earliest national secretaries of the party. Governors who are members of the party a few days ago at a meeting voted to indicate their preference for the post of party chairman. He was said to come first while Nwachukwu came second.

However, it is believed that the court case involving Nwodo over the national identity card scheme may be used against the man, though he has been discharged by an Abuja High Court for want of diligent prosecution.

According to THISDAY checks, the source of Ozichukwu's support is the governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim as well as former president Olusegun Obasanjo and his loyalists.

Obasanjo is said to express support for Ozichukwu because he believed the PDP should return to the state it was under Dr. Ahmadu Ali where the words from the party's secretariat had the force of law and it could always rein in the state chapters on all issues through arbitrary dissolution and suspension of recalcitrant party executives. During that period, party candidates were changed at will and many members of the party believe some of the election petitions the party later lost at the tribunals arose from the arbitrariness of the party secretariat under Ali.

Ozichukwu was national vice chairman (South-east) when Ali was national chairman and the party was said to be run like an army garrison.

One of the weak points of Ozichukwu's candidacy is the opposition from majority of the governors. The governors are raising the question of whether Ozichukwu would be loyal to Jonathan or Obasanjo where the interests of the two leaders clash. The governors also believe that electing Ozichukwu chairman amounts to handing over the party to Obasanjo and re-enacting the old dictatorship which led to bitter division in the party. They also believe that the candidacy of the former national vice chairman will be divisive.

Nwachukwu, one of the top contenders for the PDP top post enjoys the support of the National Assembly caucus of the party. The supporters of the former senator believe he has the maturity and status to lead the PDP. His role as chairman of a reconciliation committee that went round the country to resolve differences in states where the party had crisis has also endeared him to many party leaders across the country. It is believed that if the candidacy of Nwodo is eventually affected by the court case against him, then Nwachukwu will benefit more support from the governors' caucus.

However, those opposed to Nwachukwu's candidacy believe he is too soft to be an effective party chairman in an election year.

For Anyim, he enjoys the support of some of the governors who still feel that he deserved to be compensated with the party chairmanship after the governors' caucus stopped him in 2008 when he was set to clinch the post in a two-way race against his fellow Ebonyi man, Dr. Sam Egwu. But there are those who believe that Anyim's candidacy may reenact divisive tendencies in the party.

At the 2008 national convention, the governors brought in Ogbulafor as a dark horse to checkmate Anyim and Egwu, both of whom had divided the party along the line of pro and anti-Obasanjo groups. The pro-Obasanjo elements lined up behind Egwu while the anti-Obasanjo group supported Anyim.

The governors later persuaded then President Umaru Yar'Adua to allow them to bring in a neutral candidate, behind whom the state apparatuses were thrown.