PDP: Patching A Leaking Umbrella

The self-proclaimed largest party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been engulfed in a leadership crisis that is threatening to decimate the party’s ranks in the lead up to the 2015 general elections and beyond. Bamanga Tukur, the party chairman is desperately fighting to retain his seat. President Goodluck Jonathan is under serious pressure from PDP governors to fire Tukur. The relationship between Tukur and the PDP governors, tagged “rebels” led by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, has been everything but cordial. Although the governors have told the president to fire Tukur, he is yet to do so because of the current structure of the PDP’s hierarchy, which will produce Amaechi’s candidate as interim PDP boss in the event of Tukur being forced out of office.

Tukur’s problem started when he and the governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Murtala Nyako, clashed over the control of the party in the state. Tukur, who hails from Adamawa, has openly endorsed his son as a possible successor to Nyako and runs a faction of the PDP in the state to realise his dream.

The governor is also alleged to be grooming one of his sons for the job while Tukur prefers his own son, a former member of the House of Representatives.

The fear of the unknown has made the PDP governors pitch tent with Nyako and every effort made to reconcile them has so far been to no avail. The clash has now been brought to the national scene and Tukur is being asked to go. Tukur has toured the geo-political zones to reconcile various factions of the party but the governors would not budge. To follow the acclaimed “Mr Fix It”, Chief Tony Anenih, the party’s BoT chairman began a fresh tour of the PDP-controlled states to win the governors back to the PDP.

Mark Wades In

Last week, the Senate President, David Mark, told the visiting PDP BoT chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, that all warring factions in the party need to close ranks and work together in order to effectively implement the party’s agenda and that the disagreement in the party was unhealthy and capable of derailing the programme of the party.

Mark requested the inclusion of members of the National Assembly in the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), saying as elected representatives of the people, the lawmakers can make better contributions for the benefits of the citizenry.

According to Mark, the lawmakers are true patriots committed to making good laws that reflects the true state of the Nigerian people.

Mark said: “The National Assembly is the engine room of democracy and government and therefore, should be given its pride of place and we pledge the commitment and loyalty of the lawmakers to continue to work for the peace, unity and progress of the nation’’.

Meanwhile, Anenih appreciated the National Assembly members for their patriotism and loyalty to the party, saying the bills and motions churned out from the parliament have helped to keep Nigeria together.

Issues discussed at the parley included party affairs, the executive and legislative relationship as well as security challenges facing the nation.

2013 Budget Impasse

President Goodluck Jonathan’s request to amend the N4.987 trillion 2013 national budget last Thursday, suffered a setback with the Senate deferring consideration of the President’s request to “another legislative date”.

Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, declared at plenary when the matter came up that the lead debate for Jonathan’s amendment request was not ready - a rarity for bills already listed for legislative consideration.

Jonathan, in separate letters to the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly, dated March 14, 2013, had rejected a number of ambitious stipulations in the 2013 budget allowing the National Assembly to monitor every kobo disbursed by the executive for project execution, a design federal lawmakers hatched to check the perennial problem of poor budget implementation.

He called for immediate review.

Another clause directed that the Minister of Finance release funds periodically as due to offices involved, and failure can only be entertained with the due permission of the National Assembly.

The president said that was impossible since revenue fluctuates and might necessitate budgetary defaults.

In the amendment proposal presented to both arms of the National Assembly in March, Jonathan retained the N4.987 trillion passed by the National Assembly last December but proposed N2.4 trillion as recurrent expenditure as against the 2.3 trillion passed on December 20, 2012.

The president is also seeking the approval of N1.588 trillion as capital expenditure as against the N1.6 trillion approved by the parliament last year.

Of the total N4.987 trillion budget in the new proposal, N388 billion is earmarked for statutory transfers while N591.7 billion is for debt service.

Jonathan had in September last year, proposed N4.92 trillion as the budget for 2013 fiscal year, but upon its passage, the National Assembly increased the figure to N4.987 trillion. With the amendment proposal, Jonathan has asked the National Assembly to restore various budget sub-heads as he presented them, in contrast to various tinkering with the figures done by the National Assembly.