A new book has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan was overruled by powerful state governors within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), thwarting critical reform efforts aimed at ending the party’s reliance on wealthy sponsors.
The book, “Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist”, written by Ike Abonyi, a former media adviser to two PDP national chairmen, details how Jonathan’s reform initiative — designed to ensure the party’s financial independence — was crushed at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting despite his initial support.
The initiative was championed by Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, PDP National Chairman between 2010 and 2011, who proposed a self-funding model where 10 million registered party members would each contribute ₦1,000 annually, potentially generating ₦10 billion per year.
Nwodo had earlier presented the plan to Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, where it received the president’s backing following a pilot demonstration. However, when the proposal was brought before the NEC for approval, it was rejected by the governors, who viewed the reforms as a threat to their political control over the party.
“All that was needed to liberate the party from the cog of financial insolvency was for President Jonathan to insist on the reforms… But he didn’t do that at the NEC meeting,” the book stated.
According to the author, Rotimi Amaechi, then Governor of Rivers State and Chair of the PDP Governors’ Forum, led the opposition against the proposal, fearing it would weaken governors’ influence within the party, especially with elections approaching.
“That was how the proposed reforms died on arrival, with all the dreams of projecting an independent political party aborted,” the book read.
The book further claimed that the governors later engineered the removal of Nwodo as national chairman to block any future reformist agenda that could challenge their dominance.
“That act also marked the beginning of the loss of power by the PDP,” Abonyi wrote.
“Wadata Wonders” was launched in Abuja on Tuesday and was attended by several PDP dignitaries.
