A camp in the Kaduna chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is plotting the removal of the party chairman, Felix Hassan Hyat over his alleged romance with the presidential candidate of the party in last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The PDP in Kaduna State had until 2015 withered the storm of opposition parties and held firm the reins of power as it did at the federal level.
Kaduna State, being strategic, had even produced the country’s vice president, Namadi Sambo, between 2010 and 2015 thereby buttressing the notion that it was indeed a PDP state.
However, the 2015 election and what political analysts then described as ‘the Buhari tsunami’ had changed the equation.
It had not only smashed the PDP’s years of reign at the central level but in some states such as Kaduna, it gave way to the opposition-turned ruling party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Malam Nasir el-Rufai as governor in the state.
Since then, the fortunes of the PDP in Kaduna began to decline. Right now, the party says contrary to speculations that its fortunes had dwindled since 2015; it had in fact gained more as witnessed in the last general elections.
The PDP, according to party faithful, may not be in power at the moment but has certainly come a long way from its embarrassing defeat in 2015.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Abraham Catoh, explained that under the incumbent chairman, Felix Hassan Hyat, it did impressively well during the last general elections, winning 10 seats in the state House of Assembly, maintaining six seats in the House of Representatives and one senatorial seat.
His position was re-echoed by a stakeholder and former deputy director-general of the party’s campaign organisation in 2019, Danjuma Bello Sarki, who said the fact that the PDP’s 2019 presidential candidate polled more votes in Kaduna than any other state in the country is proof enough that the party’s influence was still deeply rooted in the state.
“Don’t forget a local government election was conducted by the APC and the PDP won four local government areas in Kaduna. In fact, elections did not hold in some of the local government areas and the governor appointed caretaker chairmen. Had it been held, PDP would have certainly won those LGAs,” he added.
But presently, it would seem APC is the least of the main opposition party’s problem as it works towards a leadership transition. Before the emergence of COVID-19 in the state, PDP had on March 14, conducted congress in the 255 political wards of the state.
The local government congress scheduled for March 28 and that of the state earlier planned for April 11 had to take the back seat with coronavirus now in the front burner.
For many supporters of the party, the congress was expected to mark a defining moment that will reposition it in the state for victory in the 2023 general elections.
Party chieftains battle for Hyat’s seat
With six people, including the incumbent chairman, jostling for the chairmanship seat, some stakeholders believe the plan is simply to block Hyat from clinching a second tenure in office.
The supporters insist that under his watch, the party had lost some “heavyweights” who decamped to the APC; a scenario they say was unacceptable.
They claimed since he took over as the chairman of the party in 2016, Hyat, a former Aviation Minister had failed to reposition the party which is why the plot to oust him was on and was only delayed by the COVID-19 global health challenge.
To these aggrieved members of the party, the chairman was instrumental to the party’s loss at the last gubernatorial election and that he even influenced delegates to support the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the party’s primaries at the expense of a son-of-the-soil, former governor of the state and now leader of the party, Ahmed Makarfi.
These, the party members say are the reason why his position is presently threatened by at least five party faithful, including Hon. Ado Dogo Audu, three times House of Reps member, Hon Bulus Kajang and Hon. Waziri Ashafa.
However, Sarki assured that it was unlikely that anyone could beat the incumbent chairman whom, he said, had worked hard to ensure the party did excellently well and gave a good fight at the 2019 general elections.
I didn’t work against Makarfi — Hyat
Hyat on his part says the fact that about five candidates have expressed interest in challenging his position as the chairman of the party shows that the PDP’s fortunes have grown with a democratic structure that provides a level playing ground for everyone.
He said, “If they claim that delegates had voted against Makarfi during the primaries, then it means the delegates were free and were not under my control and that is an aspect of democracy.
“If all the votes had gone to the candidate from Kaduna State, there were two candidates anyway from Kaduna, if all the votes had gone to them, they would have said I imposed a candidate on them so now that it did not go that way, they are saying I did not allow the people to vote for someone.”
As much as the party stakeholders tried to downplay the internal turmoil as the handwork of over-ambitious decampees who left the APC before the last election, Daily Trust gathered that the powerplay, if not managed properly, could rock the boat.
A source told our correspondent that certain party bigwigs who joined the PDP on the eve of the 2019 election have aligned with a senior legislator to sponsor a candidate that they hope will defeat the incumbent chairman in a calculated attempt that will make way for a particular aspirant to get easy passage as the 2023 governorship candidate.
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