Emma Agu 
Somuchhashappened withinthePeople’sDemocratic Party (PDP) since the emergence, some will say predictably, of former Vice President, His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the flagbearer of the party, for the 2023 presidential elections. Not the least of these developments is the moral challenge posed by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who hasinsistedthattheChairmanof theparty, Dr. IyorchiaAyushouldstepdownforasoutherner, inlinewith pre-primary agreements.
The contention is that it is not right for the two most powerful positions in the party, to be occupied by people from the same latitudinal divide of north and south. Both Atiku and Ayu are from the north. Despite concerted efforts by well-meaning party chieftains such as the immediate past chairman of the BOT, Senator Walid Jibrin, to douse the tension and reunite the warring factions, and with only a few days left before the commencement of campaigns, peace and stability are yet to return to the fold of the party. If Wike’s unbending minimum is a problem, the nefarious role of some agent provocateur and hypocrites who relentlessly stoke the embers of conflict and disunity, has not helped matters. From experience, those who stoke the fire of conflict do so for many reasons. These include those who seek access to the candidatebutthinktheironlychanceistomassagetheperson’s ears about imaginary enemies; those who need to run down prospectiveorpotentialopponentsinthepowergame; hungry scavengersdesperatelyseeking immediatepecuniarygratification and, do not be surprised, fifth columnists who have been deployed by opponents to destabilise the party from within. It is difficult to place the group that goes by the name, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) North East Solidarity Network, that recently called a press conference to, as they claimed, alert Atiku Abubakar to be wary of Bala Mohammed, executive governor of Bauchi State who it irreverently described as a “traitor”.
Bala Mohammed, a traitor? Well, if you are in doubt, not so with this clairvoyant group that had this to say about Bala Mohammed: “…From our findings, the former lawmaker is still sobbing over his loss at the presidential primary and has allied with other disgruntled aspirants and party members. But on the surface, he pretends tobewithAtiku. Heispro-Atikuinthedaywhilehedineswith Wike at night”. Here comes the Nostradamus(es) of the PDP. Sadly, these are the kind of people who go about recruiting enemies for Atiku and the PDP or, put differently, whose stockin- trade is to alienate hitherto loyal party men and women, to the point of turning them against the party. People or groups whowantAtikutobelievethatbeingWike’sfriend makesBala Mohammed an enemy are, to put it mildly, Atiku’s biggest enemiesand, could ultimately becomehismajor undoing, thatis, if theexperienced political player believes many of these people who could be described as political jobbers or opportunists.
I do not want to go into the morality or otherwise of Wike’s demands. HisExcellency, AtikuAbubakar isexperiencedenough intheaffairsof life, includingpolitics, tobeschooledonmatters of trust. But I must say, and I do so because I know, that in going into the presidential race, Bala Mohammedwas genuinelyinspired to present himself for service, not in the desperate manner that some political turncoats have exaggerated, but in the best democratic traditions which the PDP proclaims as its mantra. He meant every word of his when he pledged, at every point during his nationwide consultation, before the primaries, that he would abide by the choice of his party. When that choice became Atiku Abubakar, Bala Mohammed promptly congratulated him and followed up with a visit totheflagbearer’shouseintheAsokoroDistrictof Abujawhere he further pledged his loyalty and allegiance and promised to mobilize the Bauchi State electorate in his support.
I am also aware that when Atiku Abubakar’s running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State requested to visit Bala Mohammed, the later offered to visit him instead, insisting that the presidential running mate of his party deserved the courtesy. If theso-calledPDPNorthEastSolidarityNetworkhadbeen patriotic and genuinely pro-Atiku as it claims, it would have known that to seek to antagonize an incumbent Governor like Bala Mohammed, with a huge electoral value, was the ultimate betrayal.
If the characters that constitute the PDP North East Solidarity Network were privy to what transpired at Atiku’s 75th birthday in Bauchi last year, they would have been less outlandish in their hypocrisy. Not only did Bala Mohammed roll out the red carpet for a deserving elder brother, but he also named the newly constructed 4.2 km Gombe Road Maiduguri By-pass after the former vice president, now presidential candidate of his party. That suffices for how Bala Mohammed feels about Atiku Abubakar. For his part, as reported by the People’s Gazette last November 26, Atiku Abubakar had this to say about Bala Mohammed: “Today, I read with emotions your birthday greetings to me. I don’t normally like celebrating birthdays, but here you are today, making me celebrate birthday with a birthday cake and birthday bull.
