As the countdown to the  2011 general elections in Nigeria begins, political parties are yet to  announce plans for ward congresses which many believe, would provide the platform for the election of candidates that will fly the party flags come next year’s general polls.

Investigations conducted by The Tide indicate that majority of the political parties are waiting for directives from their national offices before swinging into action, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be pre-occupied with sensitisation of party members, wooing others into its fold and reshuffling its political cards for future political gains.

While awareness of party members on ward congresses is at its lowest ebb, feelers indicate that many party faithfuls may be caught up when  the lid for the congresses is removed by INEC.

Rivers State Chairman of National Movement of Progressives, Hon Ronarth Dappa told The Tide that there was no way the party would organise ward congress without official directive from its national office, noting that the moment the national body of the party came out with a timetable, the party would go ahead with the congress.

Since the party is relatively new, he said it had commenced grassroots mobilisation to woo members into the party. Dappa noted that the ward congress would be a major launching pad for his party.

Similarly, Hon Christian Finebone of the National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP), said it was too early to organise ward congresses.

The Rivers State Secretary of NMDP declared that machineries  needed to be put in place before holding the exercise, assuring that before the year runs out, it would conduct its ward congress elections.

The Tide learnt that the posture of most of the political parties may not be in connection with the plans of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make public its election time table in March.

INEC chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, said in Abuja at an interactive session with newsmen that the commission would release the timetable for the 2011 general election in March, thsis year.

Iwu justified the measure on the need for political parties and aspirants to have enough time to plan their activities.

On what would happen to the timetable if the National Assembly amended the constitution especially, the sections that deal with election timetable, Iwu said INEC was ready to make  necessary changes to take care of such developments.

On speculations that 2011 general election would be shifted to November, the INEC boss said that this would only be possible if the constitution and other relevant laws were amended before then.

However, since the inception the of the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration in Rivers State, party politics may have been kept in a cooler in order not to distract  the administration’s lauded development agenda in the state.

Two years into his administration, and with enviable record of remarkable service delivery of good governance, the PDP government of the state   appears to be set to swing into action of party politics.

In line with this, the chairman of PDP in Obio/Akpor Local Government area, Chukwuemeka Aaron said the party has begun grassroot sensitisation to shape party members and other faithfuls into action for election.

Aaron, in a telephone chat with The Tide said the success of the sensitisation  programme of the party would be a litmus test for the PDP to re-enact its success story in the LGs and the State elections. He advised party men and women including the youths in respective areas to close rank and work with a common purpose to take PDP to the next level of democratic success.

Aaron’s counterpart in Eleme Local Government area, Hon Abel Onungwe, agreed that PDP had swung into action on the sensitisation of party members and electorate in the area, preparatory to the congresses and the general elections in 2011.

A PDP chieftain in Gokana LGA, Hon Baiate Giadom said waiting was the name of the political game for now. “We are patiently waiting on the directive of our party on the congresses,” he said, adding that as soon as the directive was given from the national body, all other things would be put into shape for action.

Giadom, a former councillor, said there was no negative implication on the waiting game, arguing that each political party, had internal mechanism in organising party activities.

He, however, advised Rivers people to remain supportive of Amaechi administration in the efforts to re-position the state and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

Perhaps, it is the waiting game that has influenced the docile activities of the parties at their respective secretariats, and this The Tide learnt may have far-reaching implications on the political development of the parties ahead of the 2011 general elections.

A chieftain of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Igoniwari Haliday said the hope of HDP to relaunch itself into political reckoning was being kept alive with its grassroots moblisation.

Halliday  said HDP was recording successes in its mobilisation drive, but declined comments on the speculation that a governorship aspirant of HDP was warming up to wrest power from Governor Amaechi. Sources described the HDP female governorship hopeful as an Amazon that has all it takes to make a  statement in the political history of the state.

Philip-Wuwu Okparaji & Enoch Epelle