WITH the defection of five governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and claims that more governors may leave soon, the leadership of the PDP Governors Forum (PDP-GF) has a mouthful of tasks to masticate.

Ahead of next week’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, the Governor Goodwill Akpabio-led body must double its efforts to reduce friction, smoothen debilitating rough edges and ensure harmony in the party.

For a party that used to have 28 governors, which later plummeted to 23 and now 18 with a threat of further reduction, PDP can longer stride on the political landscape as the undisputable dominant party in the country. Its rival Progressive Governors Forum has 16 members. It has also lost its command in the House of Representatives with the defection of 37 Reps to the APC. It may also lose its majority in the Senate if some senators from the states of the aggrieved governors cross-carpet to the APC.

These are some of the reasons next week’s NEC meeting is crucial. Already, 11 of the 18 governors have met with President Goodluck Jonathan on the burning issues in readiness for the meeting.

The strategic meeting is expected to dissect the circumstances that led to the defection of Governors Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) and some federal lawmakers to the APC.

It is also expected to tinker out modalities for raising PDP caretaker committees in the G5 states, discuss the two governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states holding this year, preparations for the 2015 general elections and the recent exchange of missives between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Jonathan among others.

In all these, the PDP-GF has strategic roles to play in accordance with the objectives of creating the body last year.

Origins of PDP-GF

Even when the party had 28 governors, the state helmsmen did not meet as a PDP bloc. The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) was sufficient. However, the tide started changing as posturing for the 2015 elections and moves to stop President Jonathan from seeking a second term gained currency.

Soon after the 2011 elections, it was palpable that 17 of the 23 PDP governors are second timers who will quit office in 2015. This indicated that future political interests of each of the retiring governors must be protected to ensure peace and cohesion in the party.

Besides, some of these governors picked holes in the manner the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, was running the party and sought his removal through complaints to President Jonathan.

Their opposition to Tukur started before the March 27, 2012 National Convention, where he was elected with Jonathan’s backing. Some governors had opposed his election but the president had his way after much pressure. And therein the seed of discord was sown between the PDP chairman and some governors.

The discord played out in Tukur’s home state of Adamawa where the state executive loyal to Governor Murtala Nyako was dissolved in 2012. Nyako had the support of some of his brother governors and before long the gulf widened with some aggrieved PDP governors playing the role of the opposition against their party. In fact, one of them vowed to remain in PDP and help bury the party

The crises played out in the NGF leading to factionalisation of the forum with Governor Rotimi Amaechi leading a faction and Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau leading the other.

Apart from Amaechi and Nyako, the other aggrieved PDP governors were those of Kano, Sokoto, Niger, Jigawa and Kwara. They later emerged as G7 governors. Initially, their battles were being prosecuted through the NGF, chaired by Amaechi.

With the NGF factionalised the PDP set up the PDP-GF to ensure PDP matters are no longer taken to the larger Governors Forum.

Thus, the first task before the Akpabio-led forum was to quickly arrest the drift in the party by seeking cohesion among its ranks.

The Akwa Ibom governor said that the PDP-GF was not created to rival the NGF rather its duty is to ensure that PDP governors speak with one voice on issues of common interest.  He stressed that rather than allow a break in their ranks, the PDP-GF was ready to pull other governors into its fold.

To show its seriousness, the PDP-GF prevailed on the National Working Committee (NWC) to rescind the suspension placed on the governor of Sokoto State; Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko took part in series of reconciliatory meetings to resolve the steaming crises ravaging the party and helped in working out layers of reconciliation agreements.

However, the PDP-GF could not get a reversal of a similar suspension placed on Amaechi as the matter was already in court. With the aggrieved governors and PDP leadership maintaining hard line stance on their positions and APC leaders wooing the aggrieved governors and leaders, it became obvious that something must give.

The deepening gulf between the Tukur-led PDP and the aggrieved PDP governors and leaders reached a climax on August 31, 2013 during the Special National convention in Abuja. The aggrieved members left the convention ground to another venue where they birthed New PDP (nPDP) and dished out a series of conditions for peace to return.

The conditions include: President Jonathan should not re-contest in 2015, Tukur should be removed as PDP chairman, an order from the President stopping the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating them, resolution of the NGF crisis, resolution of the Adamawa and Rivers crises as well as the demand that governors must be made to control party structures in the states.

President Jonathan refused to interfere in the job of the EFCC. He promised to refer some of the requests to the party hierarchy for consideration and told the nPDP that the request to remove Tukur as national chairman could only be carried out by the National Convention.

The G7 and nPDP were not satisfied with the president’s response. Having established themselves as a faction of the PDP, they increased the tempo of their complaints with some of the G7 governors embarking on visits to elder statesmen and former heads of states for consultation.

Later, they visited the National Assembly on the issue. Following a court ruling voiding the existence of the nPDP as a faction of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) recognition of the Tukur-led PDP, the PDP hierarchy bared its fangs. It viewed the actions of the aggrieved members as anti-party activities and set up a disciplinary committee to look into the issues.

However, 24 hours to the sitting of the PDP national disciplinary committee and headed by former transport minister, Dr. Umaru Dikko, to examine various petitions and charges levied against the nPDP’s former chairman, Kawu Baraje, former deputy national chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and former Deputy National Chairman (North-West), Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure, the five former PDP governors announced their defection to APC at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja.

With the increasing possibility that Jonathan would seek re-election and his inability to meet their demands, the aggrieved governors said it was time to seek their fortunes in APC ‘to rescue Nigeria.’

Having failed to prevent the G5 from leaving, a question on the lips of observers now is can the PDPGF can the PDPGF maintain the required unity that informed its formation in 2012?

After the defections, the PDP-GF met two weeks ago to deliberate on the question of whether or not Tukur should be removed. Contrary to expectation, the governors decided that Tukur should retain his seat. Why? There was no consensus among the governors on which North-East state should produce the chairman.

It was also gathered that the governors were not willing to produce a chairman at this time so as not to hurt their 2015 plans.

Having resolved the chairmanship issue, will the PDP-GF help in tackling other challenges before the PDP ahead forthcoming elections? Only time will tell.