The contentions are such that have left party chieftains and their supporters divided and disillusioned.
In some states, the incumbent governors are in the middle of the troubles while some National Assembly, NASS, members are principal actors in others.
For instance, in Rivers, Delta, Edo, Oyo and Abia, the state governors have been variously fingered in the internal squabbles.
Some of the states have already witnessed the defection of party heavyweights and their supporters to parties like Labour Party, LP, and New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, thus depleting PDP’s strength ahead of the 2023 elections.
Some chieftains who didn’t dump the party confided that they may likely support other parties during the general elections. Others are indifferent.
Meanwhile, forces loyal to the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in Rivers State, where Governor Nyesom Wike hails from, have moved against the governor who is at the centre of the crisis rocking the opposition party at the national level.
Since Atiku chose not to pick Wike as his running mate after the Rivers governor emerged as the first runner up in the PDP presidential primary, the party has been split into Atiku and Wike camps.
Amid reconciliation efforts, however, Wike has been romancing opposition figures, the latest being the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr Peter Obi respectively, who he parleyed with abroad last week, a situation that raised questions about whether he may defect from the PDP.
It was learnt at the weekend that anti-Wike forces are organizing a 10-million-man-march for Atiku in the coming days in Rivers and the five other states of the Niger Delta.
Last Wednesday, National Chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, had said the PDP was sure of winning 25 governorship seats – a declaration that somewhat confirmed the unhealthy state of affairs in some state chapters.
He made the assertion when the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP had an interactive session with the party’s gubernatorial candidates in Abuja.
13 govs, 38 senators
He said: “I am very happy with the signs of progress made so far in various states and some of the little issues that we have clarified and it was an extremely useful meeting.
“So, we are happy that the members of the party are very determined that we don’t just win at the national level, state Houses of Assembly, National Assembly, or state governorship. We want to return about 25 state governors or more as we used to have. So, the mood at the party is excellent.”
The PDP currently has 13 governors against All Progressives Congress, APC’s 22.
As of June this year, the party had 38 senators and 126 members of the House of Representatives.
For a party in turmoil at the national level given what was termed a rebellion led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State since he lost the presidential primary to Atiku and the latter’s choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as running mate, the issues in some states may dim its prospects at the general elections.
As things stand across the states, whether the number of elected persons would increase or reduce is to be determined by how well the crises in the states are managed.
State-by-state findings are revealed that PDP’s chances are not only threatened by the Wike factor but also by deep-seated rivalry among members.
