Wike: Leading The PDP Away From The West -By Umar Sa’ad Hassan

Nyesom Wike, Rivers State Governor

Hate it or love it, the PDP represents our best hope of ridding ourselves of unarguably the worst government we have ever had and as such, its affairs are of paramount importance to a lot of us. If President Buhari packs and heads back to Daura in 2019, it is most likely they made that happen.

It was inevitable that the North and South West lose considerable influence in the party due to their dismal outing at the last general elections to the South South and South East who would not only produce the new big players but also become the major financiers of the party.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state had the added advantage of being a very key member of the Jonathan administration who was reportedly handed a mandate by the then first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to wrestle back her home state by any means necessary from Rotimi Amaechi. Wike, fresh off an epic battle and being a prominent member of the party in the previous dispensation,assumed leadership status after Jonathan’s semi-retirement from party affairs. He has succeeded on foisting Uche Secondus on the party when it made logical sense to zone it to the South West not only because it has never held the position but also to enhance chances of making a major break through into a region that has proven to be the most decisive in our electoral structure especially in these crucial times.

Wike may be apt to bulldozing down opposition and the employment of brute force but leadership of a vast number of people with divergent political and ethnic interests cloaked in the guise of a common goal takes a special kind of skill he hasn’t displayed.

Secondus is heavily reliant on his dictates and so far, he hasn’t blown him towards galvanizing the troops especially in the South West as efficiently as possible.

The most prized asset the PDP had was Olusegun Mimiko before his defection back to the Labour Party. Mimiko was the best Vice-Presidential candidate in the land and one who would have been pivotal to winning over the South West electorate; a region swayed more by competence and credibility than ethnic or religious sentiments. That Wike and his gang would make a man like that feel under-appreciated tells a lot about the job they are doing.

A reconciliation committee headed by Bayelsa state governor, Seriake Dickson was hurriedly put in place after Secondus’ emergence as chairman with a very narrow and myopic objective-pacifying the aggrieved chairmanship candidates instead of the entire South West PDP. It goes without saying that the region is the most strategic going into next year’s general elections. With Buhari still enjoying a large followership in the core northern states and only the central ones seemingly switching allegiance, the PDP would need a chunk of the South West votes to complement those of the South-South and South East to guarantee victory.

As things stand, its major players are content with moving solo or as parts of a caucus and that will not augur well. How else can one explain a mega rally in Ekiti state; the only place the party controls in the region without Chief Bode George, Otunba Gbenga Daniel or Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja?.

There is no clearer depiction of the woeful job the PDP has done in rallying its members in the South West than the very notable absences from the region at the Ekiti mega rally.

There is a very important need for the South West members to be brought under the umbrella and not only made to feel special but also to operate as a formidable entity.

As things stand, the only thing anyone who is discontented with the Buhari government has to be hopeful for as far as the South West electorate goes is their tendency to vote purely on the strength of candidates presented and nothing else.

Wike must learn to lead. He, having seized the party machinery,must ensure it is up and fully running.

Umar Sa’ad Hassan is a lawyer based in Kano

Twitter: Alaye_100
Email:uhassan077@gmail.com