President Goodluck Jonathan has visited Kwara State to boost the morale of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, wo have lost many of their leaders to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Correspondent ADEKUNLE JIMOH examines the challenges confronting the troubled chapter, ahead of the 2015 elections.

The defection of the Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members led by Senator Bukola Saraki, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is taking its toll on the party. For 11 years, the PDP was the ruling party. But, now, it is in the opposition, struggling for relevance in the Northcentral state.

The defection has changed the political landscape in Kwara. Following Saraki's defection to the APC, the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct ACN, Dele Belgore (SAN) and his supporters left the APC for the PDP. Also, the son of the late Governor Mohammed Lawal, Hakeem, his supporters, and the former Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) governorship candidate, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, who is Senator Saraki's sibling, also defected to the PDP.

When Gbemisola returned to the fold, PDP stakeholders were happy. They said that the defection of his brother, will not diminish the popularity of the party. Saraki's men who have not defected include Senator Simeon Ajibola, from Kwara South, his predecessor, Senator Sulaiman Ajadi, who has been appointed the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Prof. Oba Abdulraheem, and former Transport and Sports Minister Alhaji Bio Ibrahim.

President Jonathan, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, and other party leaders also believe that the PDP still has a future because these chieftains have not left the chapter. At the recent PDP rally in Ilorin, the state capital, the national leaders basked in the euphoria of hope.

Speakers at the event said that the huge crowd at the Metropolitan Square was encouraging.

Dr Jonathan said: "Today is a great day because, as all the speakers that spoke first have spoken, Kwara is a PDP state. Kwara truly believes in the PDP because, for now, it is only the PDP that can bring liberation.

"We ask ourselves: why do you get yourself into politics? It is your people that matter in politics and not yourself. If you get involved in politics, you have to think about your people, not yourself. People who think about the people follow the people's party and the PDP is the only people's party.

"PDP is the party that, even if you go outside Nigeria and you ask people from all over the world which are the political parties we have in Nigeria? They will say, ‘PDP and others.' Because you know it is only in the PDP that everybody voting has in this country. It is only the PDP people that can take this country to where we want it to be. I say it without any contradiction. Because only in the PDP that people like me can come from the low level and stand here as the President of this country because the PDP is not owned by any individuals.

"It is not owned by any group of people. We do not have dictators in PDP. We have leaders who believe in people; that s why in PDP we talk about one man, one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote.

"PDP is the only party that can liberate everybody and also liberate Kwara State; it is only the PDP that can give you what you want."

Senate President David Mark boasted that, "those who are pretending to leave the party would soon come back". He urged the people to have the large heart to accept them when they come back.

He added: "The only party that promotes democracy and good governance is the PDP. This is the reason why we have this large turn out of people to welcome Mr. President. The turn out was so impressive that I almost shed tears."

Vice-President Namadi Sambo, who thanked President Jonathan for what he had done for Kwara State in education and agriculture, said that¸ "the PDP train is moving and anybody that does not join it now is late".

To Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio, Kwara belongs to the PDP. He said: "PDP shall reclaim its mandate in Kwara. We worked for it and we shall not allow it to be snatched away by anybody."

Adducing reasons for his defection, Belgore said: "We are joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has shed the very core of the liabilities that made our people run away from it.

"We are joining hands with other like minds in the PDP, who were unjustly shut out because of their progressive bent to endear the party to the people of Kwara State.

"Together we will work to advocate and bring about economic liberation, equal opportunity for all and positive development to our dear state and its people.

"We join forces to break the shackles of oppression and restore our state back to its former glory. It is never easy to leave a party that one has nurtured to such an enviable position.

"My supporters and I call on all those who wish Kwara State well, both within and beyond Kwara, indigenes and non-indigenes, to support us in the PDP to fight this just and noble cause so as to bring a brighter day to the lives of our people and to renew their positive aspirations."

Belgore added: "Today is very symbolic. It is symbolic because people have waited for us to make a pronouncement on our political future"

Senator Gbemisola Saraki said her return would boost the fortune of the chapter. She said: "Three years may not be so much a long time, but it has been long enough for me to learn very important lessons. During this period, I have interacted more and intimately with thousands of Kwarans from different towns and villages. I have closely related with people of varied status. I have related with the very poor, the common people, the educated and the uneducated, the workers, the unemployed, the old and the young people.

"I have interacted with the traditional rulers, the community and religious leaders. I have lived every day of my life as an Ilorin woman and as a Kwaran. I have had my happy moments. I derive my utmost joy when I have you, especially the common people, around me. You have had my low moments. Unfortunately, this has been more pronounced because each day, I see despair and helplessness from people who are ordinarily hardworking, honest, and courageous. I hear tales that are heart rendering"

Gbemi, as she is fondly called, said that the defection of her brother to the APC notwithstanding, the PDP remains the party of majority of Kwarans. She stressed: "The majority of the people of Kwara State remains in PDP. We must therefore, show our strength.

"We must begin to pull together and give our support to President Goodluck Jonathan. It is clear that the reason for the defection by a loud few is because of their personal and selfish reasons. It is not about Kwarans, majority of whom remain solidly committed to our party and the national leadership."

The Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Solomon Edoga, said that the party would wrest power from the APC in 2015 elections.

He added: "We have seen that the PDP is Kwara and Kwara is the PDP. The ground that President Goodluck Jonathan is coming to cultivate is a politically very fertile and the harvest is going to be jumbo. The shackles of bondage will finally be broken on that day and the President is coming here to cut the freedom cake. Kwara is now free. Every voice will now be heard. Decisions will become bottom-top approach.

"As from 2015 elections, votes will count and will be counted. The one man one vote mantra will be in place in the state. Elections will now be based on the voice of the people and that is why we are putting in place an elders' committee. The committee will midwife all the processes that will lead to the elections of our ward, local government and state executives."

Gbemisola said that the PDP is on course because of its commitment to internal democracy. She added: "Internal democracy is now liberally practised in the PDP. The PDP is trying to make itself the biggest party in Africa. That shows how universal we are. The PDP we are building is one where godfatherism will not count, where one man show is an aberration."

However, keen observers of Kwara politics contend that the PDP faces a difficult future. "Its leadership is now weak," said an observer. Other analysts are of the opinion that Kwara PDP has become an amalgam of ambitious and power crazy politicians who will not kowtow to any consensus arrangement.

They argue that the choice of party leaders at the next congress and selection of ther governorship candidate next year will tear the party into shreds.

It is believed that Abdul-raheem, Ibrahim, Belgore and Gbemi Saraki are interested in the governorship race. Thus, observers contend that, when the party is seized by post-primary crises, there will be no strong leadership to broker peace and reconciliation.

The determination of the APC family to retain the state is also a setback to the PDP. The APC now has the majority in the House of Assembly. As the ruling party, it also leans on the power of incumbency, which the PDP lacks.

An observer put this into perspective: "Saraki has never lost any election in Kwara. They made a mistake of allowing him to leave the party. With the large number of supporters behind him, the APC, under his leadership, will retain the state."