The People Democratic Party (PDP) , Africa's largest party with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua as its leader lacks internal democracy as we have witnessed in Anambra State in recent times. The recent Anambra State ward congress was a do-or-die affair fraught with fraud and crisis. Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan, who was the chairman of the ward congress committee that conducted the ward congress , told Nigerians that the state chapter of PDP is in shambles and urged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to take immediate action to arrest the situation before the general elections in 2011.An avalanche of protests and petitions trailed the ward congress election organised by the Governor , even though a 50-page document containing names of winners was handed over to chairman of the Congress Appeal Committee Chairman, Ambassador Hassan Adamu.
The congress for the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Anambra State did not hold as it ran into murky waters as the Hon. Oladimeji Bankole-led primaries committee was put on hold pending the vacation of a court order filed by one Probity Adibe to stop the exercise. In order to beat the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) deadline for submission of candidates names by parties,the party met in Abuja and selected Professor Chukwuma Soludo former CBN Governor as its candidate without a congress. The controversy trailing the undemocratic decision of the party by made other contestants to hurl accusations of bribery against Soludo and the eventual institution of court process which has forced INEC not to recognise Soludo as PDP candidate pending court decision. Although many are holding back their support for him because of the reforms that is exposing the extent of bad loan and lack of corporate governance in the banking industry only comparable to the endemic corruption that is prevalent in the society. This highlights the inability of the leader of the party the who is also the President of the country to instil internal democracy in his party. When a man preaches one thing and practises another,his followers become lawless. When he is insincere in the implementation of the Electoral reforms which he initiated. The President against the common notion of collective responsibility and in the spirit of presidential system of government refuses to take responsibility for the failures of his party to practise internal democracy. Now I wonder if they will blame Professor Maurice Iwuh INEC Chairman for not being able to conduct themselves at the party level. Am not trying exonerate Iwuh of his failures as INEC Chairman!
The multiplier effects is felt when inter party elections are held,the PDP employs same undemocratic practices. The Ekiti re-run election early this year witnessed violence in a large scale; a Senator was attacked with machete and hospitalised, thugs harassed journalists, poll observers were arrested and all night shooting by suspected thugs were all the kind of incidents that engulfed the elections. Even the deployment of 10,000 police personnel by the police high command from Abuja did not deter the perpetrators of this crime. The degree of the violence led to the postponement of election in Oye-Ekiti area of the state. Another reason was the pressure of the exercise on the INEC officials and the reported illness of Mrs Adebayo (The Resident Electoral commissioner). Therefore INEC had no choice but to postpone the re-run election in Oye-Ekiti.
PDP has boasted that they will rule Nigeria for next 50 years. This hope to achieve this through massive electoral fraud as the President is reluctant to fully implement the Justice Uwais Report and undemocratic cross-carpeting of sitting governors to their party is now the norm under the supervision of Yar'Adua. The President in his electoral reform bills sent to the National Assembly canvassed for an end to cross-carpeting because the constitution is not clear on it. Whilst these governors rode to power on the mandate of smaller parties only to abandon them in the middle of the tenure for selfish reasons back to PDP. Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State was propped up to upset Senator Ararume. Now he has joined the League of other decampees like Governor Isa Yaguda and their followers to the PDP. The PDP is interested in destabilizing other parties. This anti-democratic trends by the PDP are being carried out under its leader the President.
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