Atiku’s supporters are pushing for David Mark, former senate president, to become the new chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the party is currently without a substantive chairman.
The former chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was ousted in March 2023 following his suspension at the ward level of the party in Benue state.
In his stead, Umar Ililya Damagum leads as the acting national chairman. However, the Atiku camp is reportedly uncomfortable with him as he is seen to be close to Nyesom Wike, who is now a member of the APC.
Loyalists to Atiku in the party see Mark as a capable leader who can deal with “renegade” party members like Wike.
Mark, a retired brigadier, who once served as the military governor of Niger state and held a position in the Ministry of Communication, stands as a founding member of the PDP and has remained loyal to the party without defecting.
Meanwhile, Wike, who faced defeat in the presidential primary against Atiku in May 2022, spearheaded a faction of five governors who openly opposed Atiku during the 2023 presidential election. He has since been rewarded by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“You would expect the PDP to have suspended or expelled Wike by now for his anti-party activities, worsened by his acceptance of a ministerial appointment from a rival party,” TheCable reports a former governor as saying.
“But it is very clear that the national working committee is in Wike’s pocket, so we should not expect any form of discipline in the party.”
However, the Wike camp is threatening to fight back if Mark is appointed chairman. They have warned that they may form a parallel PDP and create a protracted internal crisis.
This publication learnt that a meeting hosted by Atiku and attended by “elders and stakeholders” who are his loyalists discussed the “Wike problem” extensively.
While most attendees strongly advocated for Wike’s expulsion, some expressed concerns that such a move could exacerbate divisions within the PDP, potentially leading to a situation akin to the “ANPP” syndrome.
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), initially established as the All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999, emerged as a formidable opposition party in the country, holding sway in nine states from 1999 to 2003. Nevertheless, a prolonged internal crisis within the party resulted in a significant split, and by 2007, it had levelled down to just three states before ultimately fading into obscurity and eventually merging into the APC in 2013.
This publication further learnt that Atiku’s most prominent supporters, including Sule Lamido, the former governor of Jigawa, Babangida Aliyu, the former governor of Niger, and Adamu Maina Waziri, a former minister, once contemplated taking action against the acting chairman in a bid to shutoff Wike but decided against it due to concerns about potential repercussions.
