While still trying to pacify aggrieved aspirants and candidates who lost out in the power game in the party primaries, another crisis appears brewing within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over leadership of the campaign team of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The party is already pitched into camps over who should lead the campaign team, Daily Sun investigation revealed. The president had emerged as the party candidate at its national convention held at Eagle Square on January 13.

The investigation revealed that either of two leading chieftains of the party – former chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and former chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih – have allegedly been earmarked to take over the leadership of the campaign exercise.

But while President Goodluck Jonathan is favourably disposed to giving the leadership of the team to Chief Anenih because he was impressed with his contributions that ensured his emergence at Eagle Square, particularly the high wire politics that ensured that the PDP governors kept to their own side of the deal, some other chieftains of the party are persuading the president to exercise caution and give the job to Dr. Ahmadu Ali.

“Jonathan wouldn’t mind if Anenih leads the team because his advice came handy when the governors were playing pranks with the president before the party’s national convention. But wise counsel might prevail in the choice of Ahmadu Ali, who is from the North Central state of Kogi. But a member of the Jonathan/Sambo presidential campaign team and confidant of the former chairman of PDP BoT, however, dismissed insinuations that a leadership tussle was on.

“Chief Anenih isn’t interested. In fact, if anybody should lead, it should be Ahmadu Ali, that is, if he is in the picture, since he is from the North. Remember that when Jonathan was an aspirant, Ambassador Sarkin Tafida from the North led the campaign. Now that Jonathan is the party’s presidential candidate, the Acting National Chairman, Dr. Haliru Bello Mohammed, who is equally from the North, should lead the campaign. I don’t want to believe that should create any disaffection within the party.’’
But Daily Sun investigation also revealed that while the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) wanted to take over the President Jonathan’s campaign structure, as was the practice, having emerged as the party’s candidate, members of the President Jonathan/Sambo campaign office at Plateau House, are not willing to let go.

A Daily Sun source disclosed that the leadership of the party is concerned that the presidential campaign activities that should have taken off at Legacy House, as was the practice, remain hazy, as no team has been constituted. While it is already public knowledge that President Jonathan would flag off his campaign next week in Nasarawa and Oyo states, next Monday and Tuesday, respectively, mum is the word at Wadata Plaza, the party’s national secretariat.

Efforts to speak with the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Professor Ahmed Rufai Alkali was unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls made by Daily Sun reporter. But an inside source at Plateau House corroborated the scheduled campaign activities for Nasarawa and Oyo states. He, however, denied insinuations of distrust between Jonathan/Sambo campaign team and the party national secretariat. “There is no cause for alarm; there would be harmonisation, very soon,’’ the source further submitted.

Also reacting to speculation of disaffection between the PDP NWC and the president’s campaign office, Director, Media and Publicity, of the Jonathan/ Sambo presidential campaign office, Sully Abu dismissed it as unfounded. “Where did you get that from? Who told you there is disaffection? Well, there is nothing like that,’’ Abu told Daily Sun.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2011/feb/04/newsbreak-04-02-2011-001.htm