In the days ahead, the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party may get messier as aggrieved party chieftains are planning to challenge the dominance of the governors elected on its platform, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

This is as the David Mark Reconciliation Committee set up to resolve the party’s leadership crisis said it lacked the moral authority to ask the embattled National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, to withdraw the lawsuits he filed to challenge his suspension from office.

The party’s chieftains are unhappy with the 13 governors, who are bent controlling party’s leaders at the national, state, zonal and local government offices.

The states under the control of the PDP are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Delta, Enugu, Edo, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto and Taraba.

Governors of Ebonyi, Cross River and Zamfara states were elected on the platform of the PDP but they, individually, recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress at different.

Findings by our correspondent showed that the chieftains are accusing the 13 state governors of deliberately creating leadership problem for the party.

The chieftains feel they must checkmate the governors ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for October.

As strategy to achieve their aim, the chieftains, it was gathered, have floated different caucuses or forums to break the influence of the governors, who meet under the aegis of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

The forums created by the chieftains include Forum of Former Ministers, which is being led by Taminu Turaki; Forum of Former Governors, led by the Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu; Forum of Former Senators, whose leader is yet unknown.

There is also Forum of Former Members of the House of Representatives, led by Emeka Ihedioha, and the Elders Committee, led by David Mark.

It was also learnt that a forum, comprising chieftains from 23 states without PDP governors, is also being led by a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido.

A member of the PDP Board of Trustees, who spoke with newsmen, anonymously, said, “There are those who are of the opinion that 13 governors are too minute to be controlling 36 state chapters, and the Federal Capital Territory.

“That is why we are having all these caucuses now. They all have interest in who is going to lead the party at its next convention.

“Don’t forget that it was the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who sold the candidature of the last two National Chairmen of the party to us. He was the one that gave us Senator Ali Modu Sherrif and Uche Secondus. We all bought into it. Now, he was the one that moved against them with the hope of bringing another person to us through his governor friends.

“Elders of the party and others are not happy and are looking for ways to cut the governors’ wings. We cannot rely on the money they bring alone to run the party; after all, it is state money. That is why we are having these caucuses now. I am sure more will still emerge.”

Investigations by our correspondent showed that Lamido had met with members of his group twice in the last one month.

The first meeting, it was gathered, held in Kaduna while the second one held in Abuja.

A source privy to the two meetings of the group said, “The former governor had met with the leaders of the party from the 23 states. Though the PDP Governors’ Forum is aware of this, I think the governors are also not sleeping.

“This is the reason why they are trying to invite some leaders from the affected states to their meetings, especially in Abuja with the hope of buying them over.

“Before the crisis started, the governors were not inviting them to any meeting. But because the National Convention is coming and they know that elections would be held and that these leaders are statutory delegates, the governors are now getting closer to them.”

It was also learnt that a governor from the South-South had said at a recent meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee that some groups were always meeting after NEC had taken a decision on an issue with the aim of changing it.

“After the governor spoke, Lamido raised his hand to tell him that the governor should realise that there would always be meetings before and after meetings. He said that’s how politics is played,” a source who was at the meeting said.

Our correspondent reported that meetings of the different caucuses within the party held a few days ago.

First to meet was the party’s former senators’ forum, whose meeting held at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja. Among the former senators at the meeting were three former Presidents of the Senate produced by the party – Pius Anyim, David Mark and Bukola Saraki. The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, and Dino Melaye were also present.

It was gathered that the meeting discussed how to protect the interest of members from “vultures that are bent on hijacking it to serve the interest of a few in 2023.”

A day later, the meeting of members of the party’s former governors also took place. Those at the meeting included Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Peter Obi(Anambra), Liyel Imoke(Cross River), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Bukola Saraki (Kwara).

Meanwhile, the David Mark Reconciliation Committee met with Secondus in Abuja on Wednesday and told the embattled national chairman that they could not ask him to withdraw the lawsuits he filed to challenge his suspension, since Governor Wike had also refused to withdraw the suit leading to Secondus’ suspension.

Members of the committee are Saraki, Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku; a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi; a former Minister of Communications, Haliru Mohammed; a former National Chairman of PDP, ex-Governor Okwesilieze Nwodo; a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun; a former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Inna Ciroma and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinaya Abaribe.

A source, who was at the meeting, said Mark narrated how the committee had tried to persuade Wike to persuade his allies to withdraw the cases that led to Secondus’ suspension.

The source said, “Mark was worried that the ongoing cases in different courts were capable of thwarting the move to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.

“He said when the committee met with Wike, the governor said he was not sure Secondus would withdraw his own case.

“Similarly, during the meeting with Secondus, he also said he won’t withdraw his cases until Wike’s people withdraw theirs because they were the first to go to court.”

The source quoted Mark as saying that in the circumstances, the committee would not compel Secondus to withdraw his cases, but appealed that there should be no media war involving any member of the party.” ,,