Plateau PDP crisis: Fresh fears trail reconciliation

Peoples Democratic Party’s recent efforts to resolve the prolonged crisis in its Plateau State chapter, leading to last week’s resignation of the State Chairman of the party, former Minister of Sports, Damishi Sango, may have raised fresh fears on how to get peace in the troubled state chapter of the party, report Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu and Yusufu Aminu Idegu in Jos

When the Uche Secondus-headed National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resolved in April this year to set up a peace committee, headed by the former Senate President, David Mark, to investigate the crisis in the Plateau State chapter of the party, most observers heaved a sigh of relieve believing that peace in the party may soon be found. As at that time, the Plateau State PDP had literally split into two factions.

The crisis broke out early in April when 16 members of the state executive council of the party suspended from office the State Chairman, Damishi Sango, and his Deputy, Amos Gombi, over alleged misappropriation of campaign funds.

They also accused the two leaders of misusing funds raised to assist people displaced by violence in the state.

Other allegations against Sango and Gombi included “open disregard for other executive council members and elders of the party.”

Besides the suspension of the two principal officials, the 16 executive council members also appointed Mr. Chris Hassan, who was until then the Vice Chairman of the party in the Northern Senatorial District, as the Acting Chairman.

As would be expected, the party thereafter split into two as Sango dismissed the alleged suspension and insisted that he remained the state chairman of the party.

Since every effort made at state and regional level failed to resolve the matter, concerned stakeholders expected the findings of the Mark panel to finally resolve the matter. But reactions from some members of the party since the panel submitted its report have shown that the crisis may be far from being resolved.

One of them, an aggrieved member of the State Executive Committee, who pleaded not to be named said the recent action of the NWC, which was evidently informed by the report of the Mark Panel “cannot possibly resolve the issues.  You will recall that the major issue was how the alleged mismanagement of the campaign funds led to PDP’s failure in the last elections. Instead of just saying that Mr. Sango is innocent of the alleged offences and at the same time saying he must resign his position, it would have been better to ask him to apologize to Wase PDP supporters, especially to Alhaji Hamisu Anani, who won the party primaries and spent huge personal resources to fight the prolonged battle for justice.”

Plateau PDP unsettled after 2019 loss

Lingering internal conflict that erupted in Plateau PDP immediately after the 2019 governorship election in the state had made it difficult for the main opposition party in the state to offer any credible opposition required of it. The crisis began soon after the election of February 2019 which was won by the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Governor Simon Lalong.

It all appeared the opposition party, which ruled the state for 16 years before losing to APC in 2015, went into the 2019 election with the confidence that it will retake power in the state from APC. But when it became obvious that the opposition party lost the election, the party erupted from within over issues of campaign funds. Some members of the party began to demand for explanations from the state leadership of the party on how the campaign funds were managed. The aggrieved members held that poor management of the campaign funds was solely responsible for the woeful outing of the party at the polls.

They alleged that a larger part of the 2019 campaign funds were diverted for private use and was not used for the success of the party in the election. They also alleged that the diversion of the campaign funds was a deliberate act by the state leadership of the party that led to the failure of the party.

The aggrieved party members not only complained within themselves, soon, several petitions were sent from Jos to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja asking for a probe of the state party campaign fund running to hundreds of millions of naira. The petitioners directly accused the state Party Chairman, Hon Damishi Sango, and his deputy, Hon Amos Gombir, of conspiring during the campaign to defraud the party and thereby caused it to lose an election they had brighter chances of winning.

Rather than working together as a party to defend their claims to be the winner of the governorship election at the election tribunal, the party tore itself apart into various camps with some camps in support of the embattled Chairman, Sango, while others openly came against the party leadership.

In the first State Working Committee (SWC) meeting of the party after the election, five decisions were reached: one, a vote of no confidence against the party chairman and his deputy, to set up a 7-man disciplinary committee to investigate the party chairman and his deputy and to suspend the party chairman and his deputy to give room for unhindered investigation of the financial crime alleged against the duo.

One of the senior party members, Hon Chris Hassan, was quickly announced by the SWC as a replacement for Sango pending the outcome of the investigative panel. The constituted investigative panel comprised of Mr. Sunday Panwil (Chairman), Mr. Ventim Ntem, Mr. Dayabu Dauda, Mr. Auwal Haruna, Ms. Sylvia Miri, Mr. Moses Sule, and Mr. Panson Dagyat (Secretary).

The declaration of these five basic resolutions by the party’s SWC was like a burst of a bottled anger. In response to the declaration lots of petitions for and against the decision of the State Working Committee were sent to Abuja by stakeholders to draw the attention of the National Secretariat of the party to the conflicts.

Notwithstanding the decision of the SWC, Sango said no one or group in the state can suspend him from the party and insisted that he remained the state Chairman of the party. Addressing newsmen in his office then, Sango said, “I remain the substantive state chairman of the party.” In rejecting his suspension, he said the suspension was at variance with the party’s constitution and described it as illegal. He denied diverting any fund, saying that campaign funds were solely handled by the state campaign council which was made of several members. He also denied diverting N3.1 million generated to support the IDPs and the N2.6 million meant for a retreat, noting that the money for the displaced persons was used to purchase food items for them, while the money for the retreat is intact in the bank. Sango told journalists in his office, “You are aware of the recent happening within our great party in the state where some few elements said they suspended me and my deputy. But I want to unequivocally say that I remain the party chairman in the state.

“These are misguided elements within us who want to cause confusion, unfortunately their action is a nullity because it is illegal and against the constitution of the party.

“We shall not allow any form of impunity and brigandage in our party and if they want to remove me, they must follow the due process. I have no skeleton in my cupboard and so my hands a clean,” he said.

Sango was not alone in this fight. He has the backing of all the local government chairmen of the party who we learnt are solidly behind him. Speaking in his defence, the party Chairman in Kanke Local Government Area, Mr. Dauda Waptu, who spoke on behalf the 16 other chairmen, said the State Working Committee never consulted them in the decision to suspend Sango and his deputy and so will not support it. He said, “We, the party chairmen in all the 17 local governments of the state disassociated ourselves from the actions of the SWC and we recognise Sango as the state party chairman. We shall not recognise any Acting Chairman and we hereby warned Chris Hassan to stop parading himself as Acting Chairman of the party.”

However, the State Working Committee of PDP in Plateau State is said to be made up of 72 members out of whom 16 were said to have endorsed the suspension of Sango. Chapter 10 of the PDP Constitution 2019 as amended made provisions for processes to be followed in suspending a chairman of the party who was alleged to have committed infraction against the party. Sango therefore believed that the 16 SWC members who endorsed his suspension were rather being sponsored by a third force to cripple the unity of the party in defending their claims at the election tribunal.

How national executive took charge

With the action of the SWC, the party became fragmented into two, one led by the Acting Chairman, Chris Hassan, and the second led by Sango who refused to give up his seat.

After three months into the conflict it became obvious that the state party structure could not resolve the internal conflict. So, the national secretariat took over the party. The PDP National Working Committee (NWC) of the party directed the North Central Zonal Chairman, Hon Theophilus Dakas-shan, to take over the affairs of the party in Plateau State pending the resolution of the conflict.

The NWC also mandated a committee headed by former Senate President, David Mark, to wade into the party crisis in the state and resolve it. After another three months of investigations and reconciliation attempts by the David Mark committee, it was learnt that the committee found that the allegations against Sango were not true and therefore recommended that Sango be reinstated to his office as the substantive Chairman of the party. However, inside sources said the party leadership resolved to apply wisdom where there would be no loser and no winner in the lingering conflict. It was therefore agreed with the consent of all the parties to the conflict that the embattled State Chairman, Sango, be cleared of the allegations but that he has to resign and handover to his deputy. It was also resolved that after his resignation, Sango will become a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party at the national level, while his deputy, who was also accused of diversion of campaign fund alongside him, will remain as Acting Chairman pending the next congress of the party when another set of executive committee would be elected. We learnt that following this peace agreement, Sango has complied by tendering his resignation letter and has also handed over to his deputy. Conveying the development to newsmen in Jos, the party governorship candidate, Senator Jeremiah Useni, said in a stakeholders meeting at the party secretariat that, “Sango is no more our State Chairman as directed by the National Secretariat but now a member of PDP Board of Trustees (BOT). Mr. Amos Gombi, his deputy, is now the Acting Chairman of PDP in the state. This was done to settle whatever crisis we were having. Left for us the leaders of the party in the state, there is nothing like PDP I and PDP 2 because we are one big family undivided.

“The allegation that Sango collected money from the headquarters for 2019 General Elections was not true because three of us signed for whatever stipends given to us by the National Secretariat. So, the insinuations raised against him (Sango) were false and a disservice to him,” he stated.

Fresh fears

The Nation investigation however showed that Sango’s vindication, his promotion to the membership of the party’s BOT and the other reconciliatory appointments may not automatically translate to immediate peace in the state chapter of PDP. This is because the party still has some issues emerging from the reconciliation. For example, the naming of Senator Useni as the leader of the party in the state and the emergence of Hon Amos Gombir as the Acting State Chairman of the party have been described by some as two fresh issues that have thrown up fresh grievances. We gathered that members of the party from Plateau North Senatorial Zone are not particularly pleased with the pattern of resolution adopted by the David Mark committee. Our sources said the zone argued that the position of chairman of the party zoned to them has been taken and given to Plateau Central zone. The Northern Zone, where Sango hails from, are not just complaining, they are already shopping for a replacement and have clearly notified the Acting State Chairman of the party to be ready to resign and handover to someone from the Northern zone so as not to disrupt the zoning formula of the party. “Sango is from the North based on zoning and he can only be replaced by another member from the North,” said one of the party members who pleaded anonymity.

The zone is contending that from the 2019 election, it was clear that the zone remains the stronghold of the party and cannot be deprived of its chairmanship slot. “We are the only zone in the state that produced a PDP Senator and two members of House of Representatives, and so we own and sustain the party at the moment; this new arrangement is unacceptable to us. We shall find a replacement for Sango very soon”.

Given these responses, it remains to be seen how far the recent reconciliation efforts would go in bringing lasting peace in Plateau State PDP. Dr. James Gyang, a PDP supporter in Jos told The Nation that so much still need to be done. “As you can see, there are many critical issues that may combine to further hurt PDP here. It will amount to a time bomb to deny the Northern zone the position of state party chairman. Our leaders must be sensitive enough if the party ever wants to return to power in Plateau State here.”