The ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is set to announce the selection of Chief Tony Anenih as the chairman of its Board of Trustees, in what would be a second stint in that position for the octogenarian and veteran politician.
Top sources say that the imminent emergence of Anenih, who is currently the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has received the endorsement of top members of the board previously opposed to his choice.
Anenih has been at loggerheads with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had endorsed the former National Chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali for the position. Other top contenders are former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, among others.
Anenih’s emergence as the new BoT chairman will come at a time when there are lot of internal challenges facing the party, such as resolving the lingering feud between the Presidency and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, as well as the crisis between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Obasanjo.
Only last week, some perceived loyalists of former president Olusegun Obasanjo were sacked from the National Working Committee of the party.The South-West congresses believed to be in favour of the Obasanjo camp were also cancelled.
Another major challenge that is facing the PDP, which the new BoT chairman has to contain, is the seeming threat posed by the newly formed All Progressive Congress, APC.
It was revealed that the party kingmakers settled on Anenih after long and extensive consultations among themselves due to his massive experience.
A top member of the party also told this correspondent that the choice of Anenih was based on the belief that, with his vast knowledge of the inner workings of the party, he would be in a better position to reconcile all contending power blocs within the party and also effectively check the threat posed by the new APC.
The PDP BoT meeting that held on January 8 ended in a stalemate and in the formation of a committee headed by Professor Jerry Gana. It was mandated to streamline the membership of the party’s BoT and to report back to the members in the next meeting.