Mu’azu: "The Game Changer"

The new moniker for the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, is ‘The Game Changer.’ Our correspondent examines the past months that Mu’azu has spent in office, and probes whether the sobriquet is well earned. When former Bauchi State governor, Ahmadu Adamu Muazu, took over from Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Pasrty (PDP) in January, it was against the backdrop of the fact that the party was enmeshed in deep crisis, that many concluded, was far beyond Tukur’s capacity to resolve. The issues on ground then was the mass defection of notable leaders of the party including a former vice president, five governors, 11 senators and 37 House of Representatives members. The effect of the defections was so damning at that time that the PDP, which had since 1999 enjoyed prime position in the parliament lost its majority in the House of Representatives and was battling to ensure the leadership of the House does not jump in the boat of the opposition party. The situation became grim for the ruling party, when it realized it was standing almost on an equal footing with the major opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) on the number of states it controls. Not only that, there was internal wangling within the party leading to a crack in the ranks of the National Working Committee (NWC) that majority of the members parted ways with the national chairman and began to shun meetings called by him. It got worse. Governors of PDP controlled states also began to challenge the party’s leadership on account of not factoring them in, in the running of the affairs of the party hence snapping the cooperation the chairman was receiving from that angle. The bulk of the governors who were eyeing the senate seats of their respective constituencies could not stomach the promise being made by Tukur, to give sitting senators automatic seats as a way of stemming the tide of defections and moved against him. For Tukur it was a case of both the ground caving in and the walls crashing on him at the same time. Not oblivious of the preexisting schism, Mu’azu on assuming office, promised to block the gaping holes and cement the cracks his predecessor in office must have left on the walls of the party. “There is no doubt that all has not been well with our party. However, the crisis that has rocked the party is a common phenomenon with large parties. “I have helplessly watched the dwindling fortunes of our party from 2003 to date. From controlling a record of 28 states in 1999 down to 23 currently. This situation is unacceptable and must change,” Mu’azu said. Less than six months after promising to change the situation he described as unacceptable, Muazu is already being described as a ‘game changer’ implying that he had not only accomplished the mission to revive the PDP but that he has done so in record time. But many say drawing such conclusions at this time may be hasty as there are lots of challenges confronting the party that are yet to be resolved. Analysts have summarized the contentious issues in the PDP confronting Muazu on his assuming office into four which are, lack of internal cohesion; high profile and massive defections; loss of party supremacy; loss of confidence in the leadership of the party by members, and the growing influence of the major opposition party which appeared to be feasting on the crises within the PDP. The most worrisome and urgent challenge at that period, was stemming the cases of high profile defections to sell an image of a party that is not only united in size but akin to a behemoth in size to live up to its name as the largest party in Africa. To Mu’azu’s credit, since he came on board, no governor has defected from the PDP. The significance of this is better appreciated given that at that time he assumed office, there were assurances by the five defecting governors that more of their colleagues were set to join them in the APC. Such comments immediately dried up with the coming of Mu’azu who launched a counter offensive, to not only bring back those that defected from the party but also to woo more into its fold. His re-approchement with former governors was said to have yielded fruits as it brought down the skirmishes in the state chapters of the party and broadened the access to key stakeholders across the country. The PDP national chairman also took credit for the high profile defections from the rival APC, owing to the leadership crises in its fold, where people like Attahiru Bafarawa, Ahmed Shekarau and others joined the PDP. Some of the 37 lawmakers who had defected to the APC also retraced their steps in moves that shored up the ratings of the PDP chairman. A big plus for Mu’azu also came when a ruling in the case involving the party instituted by the 37 lawmakers favoured the PDP, when the Judge opined that the lawmakers have no business remaining on their seats after defecting from the platform that brought them to the National Assembly. The implication of the statement, though still an issue in the court, served to prevent those who were zealous to cross over to the APC from the PDP and rested the issue in the Senate where about 12 of them were insisting on being identified as members of the APC. But while the sobriquet of game changer had already gone far and the PDP chairman seems to relish the accompanying glory, others feel that on general score, the things that have been left undone by Mu’azu surpass those he has done, surmising that the game has remained as it was, without the slightest alteration. Mu’azu, on assumption of office promised to set up a committee headed by Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, to meet with the five governors that defected from the party and possibly woo them back. Judged on the basis of that promise alone, many say he has failed woefully as he has not been able to get a single of the governors to retrace their steps. His critics also say he cannot also appropriate the defection of Bafarawa and Shekarau from the APC as part of his achievements as they say it was only circumstantial since he neither instigated the crisis that led to their exit from their former parties nor was he instrumental to its exacerbation. There are also suspicions that the internal crisis within the NWC has not been fully resolved as four months into his tenure in office, indications began to emerge that the internal crisis he inherited from Tukur having to do with the disenchantment by the NWC members of the party, has not been resolved. The bad blood between the national chairman and the NWC members continued till much later, when the party issued a statement saying it is debunking reports that there is a problem between the NWC members and the PDP national chairman. But not many were convinced that the smoke was not without fire which has further mitigated the impression that there is internal cohesion within the party. Another thing is that before the coming of Mu’azu, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) had faulted the congresses of the party in nine states of the federation as well the election of some national officers of the party. The party under Tukur held a mini convention in August last year, to redo the election of offices faulted by INEC, but Tukur before vacating office, only succeeded in re-conducting that of Adamawa State while leaving out the others. Party members view that as not being assertive enough and wondered if he could like Tukur, be able to be independent of the overweening influence of state governors. Concerning the growing influence of the APC, the impression goes both ways as there are those who feel Mua’zu has done well to check it spread in the sense that he has halted major defections from the PDP, but there are those who feel he cannot take credit for that as the APC has during his tenure , gone ahead to conduct successful congresses from the wards to the state level and is planning for its national convention with the PDP not doing much to take advantage of the rancor within the party. Analysts say the fact that the APC had also gone ahead to win elections conducted during Mu’azu’s tenure, like in the local government elections in Kano and the House of Assembly by elections in Yobe State, shows the game is not really changing. With this scenario many say though the game appears to have been altered with the coming of Mu’azu, the requisite to conclude that it has changed significantly to earn the kind of appellation is too hasty.