South West PDP heads for a shipwreck
By Karounwi Oladapo
The die is finally cast and the South West PDP Zonal Congress is finally fixed for Monday, April 12, 2021, at Osogbo.
The two South West PDP Political warriors will be going for a Political battle; Political General Fayose will battle Political General Makinde in a battle of supremacy!
The PDP National Working Committee, NWC, has failed woefully in its obligations to peacefully reconcile and harmonize warring factions, camps and tendencies within the PDP.
What the PDP NWC ought to have done to safe its dying party from going into oblivion in the South West is to share the Zonal positions equitably between the two warring factions ahead of the Zonal Congress and direct the South West leaders and delegates to go to the Congress venue on Monday April 12 for an affirmation election to ratify the shared positions.
Unfortunately, what is on display is failure of leadership and lack of political will to safe the party from implosion!
The PDP lacks the capacity to manage its internal affairs. By this singular failure, the party has already exposed its members and delegates to a needless danger on Monday!
The following questions will have to be answered on Monday at Osogbo:
1. How will the delegates list provided by the National headquarters of the PDP be acceptable to the two factions? This is because there exists two factional Executives and delegates lists in each of the six States of the South West.
2. Which Zoning formula will be acceptable to both factions because each of the two factions has different Zoning formula; Fayose faction zoned the Zonal Chairman to Ondo State while Makinde faction zoned its own to Oyo State; Fayose faction zoned Zonal Publicity Secretary to Ondo State while Makinde faction zoned its own to Ekiti State; and so on.
3. What is the capacity of the party to screen those that are eligible to participate in the Congress and prevent those that are not eligible in a manner that violence will be averted and avoided?
4. How will the Congress Committee ensure the Party election is conducted fairly and transparently and the outcome will be acceptable to both factions?
5. How will the Zonal Congress Committee handles the delegates and Executives lists of some States that are still unresolved before the Courts?
6. What happens to the subsisting order of the Courts that restrained the party from conducting the South West Zonal Congress until the issue of the Zonal Congress before the Court is resolved? Can the PDP put something on nothing and expect it to stand?
It will be a surprise if the party can prove me wrong on the following:
1. The likelihood that the Congress will be marred by violence.
2. The likelihood that the Zonal Congress will produce two different set of South West Zonal Executives.
3. The likelihood that the two factional Zonal Executives will end up in court to seek for legality and legitimacy.
I pray that God will protect the lives of all the participants at the Zonal Congress.
Karounwi is a public affairs analyst based in Ekiti