NIGERIAN RULING PARTY (S)ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000473

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2018
TAGS: PGOV NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN RULING PARTY (S)ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP


Classified By: Political Counselor Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b
& d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP)
selected new leadership at its March 8 convention. Contrary
to expectations -- that the convention would be a showdown
between supporters and opponents of former president Obasanjo
over their respective candidates, former Ebonyi Governor Sam
Egwu and former Senate President Pius Anyim -- a compromise
emerged. In the name of "party unity", the 27 PDP state
Governors met in advance and endorsed a consensus slate of
candidates, topped by Prince Vincent Ogbulafor -- a former
Cabinet Minister and party National Secretary -- as the new
National Chairman. Since Ogbulafor was deemed acceptable to
both sides, he was approved by President Yar'Adua. Yar'Adua
did not publicly endorse Ogbulafor but his consent to the
choice was conveyed by the governors. The affirmation of
Ogbulafor as Chairman marked a shift in the center of power
within the PDP, away from the Obasanjo camp and toward a
coalition of governors and individuals, some of whom had
previously identified with the self-styled "reformers" of the
G-21 and Integrity Group. However, the process of the
convention was PDP business as usual and not a triumph for
"reformers" as the new leadership was selected in advance
rather than elected by the delegates. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Prince Vincent Ogbulafor's name first surfaced as a
compromise candidate March 6, only two days before the
convention, at a meeting in Abuja hosted by Kwara State
Governor (and Governor's Forum Chair) Bukola Saraki.
According to press reports, once the governors had settled on
a consensus candidate, Saraki (along with Governors Amaechi
of Rivers State and Uduaghan of Delta State) met with
Yar'Adua and persuaded him to accept Ogbulafor, reportedly
because the President had previously said he wanted a
conciliator who could preserve party unity. Though Ogbulafor
had served as both a Cabinet Minister and the longest serving
National Secretary of the PDP under Obasanjo, he later fell
out with the former President over the third term issue, and
was sacked as Secretary in 2005. Ogbulafor was thus thought
to be largely free of Obasanjo's influence.


3. (SBU) Despite Obasanjo's reported last minute maneuverings
in support of his preferred candidate, Egwu, Ogbulafor
prevailed as the governors' consensus candidate; he and the
rest of the consensus slate were presented to delegates at
the convention. It was announced to the party faithful at
the Conference that all other candidates had withdrawn,
though notably Anyim and Egwu remained silent on the dais,
and did not publicly renounce their candidacies. Not all
delegates were pleased at the fact that, once again, there
had been no election. On March 9, at a dinner honoring both
the incoming and outgoing PDP leadership, Yar'Adua issued a
call for inclusiveness, reconciliation and consolidation. He
further maintained that "we must build an effective bulwark
against backsliding from the level of integrity of political
competition and participation which we have attained, into an
era of internal strife, primordial loyalties and self-
defeatist tendencies."


4. (C) COMMENT: The affirmation of Vincent Ogbulafor as PDP
National Chairman may be interpreted as a move by President
Yar'Adua and the current governors to loosen the overbearing
influence of ex-President Obasanjo. It also marks the
emergence of new power brokers in the party, led by Governor
Saraki, and including Governors Amaechi, Uduaghan, Gabriel
Suswam of Benue, Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Sullivan Chime of
Enugu, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun and Namadi Sambo of Kaduna State
who were members of the committee set up to search for a
consensus slate. Also demonstrating influence were Senate
President David Mark, Speaker of the House Bankole, and
Farouk Lawan, leader of the Integrity Group in the House.
Though "the reformers" (so-called) are represented in this
group, namely by Bankole and Lawan, and are happy to see
Obasanjo's influence reduced, the process by which Ogbulafor
emerged, cannot be considered a triumph in the quest for
intra-party democracy. Many, if not most, delegates told us
they wanted to cast ballots in an actual election.
Yar'Adua's reference to the "level of integrity of political
competition and participation which we have attained" should
be read with the irony it deserves. END COMMENT.
SANDERS