The founding fathers of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, were the movers and shakers of the Nigerian nation. They were men and women of uncanny sagacity and an assemblage of political, intellectual, and economic colossus knitted for the rebirth of a nation simmering from the hot coals of military misadventures and tyranny.
Most were heroes of the June 12 struggle except the highest beneficiary – former President Obasanjo, a non-June 12 crony. Time will fail to mention names, but a roll call of these men brings irreparable pains with the state of the party today against the vast possibilities and potentials they brought to the table.
By 1999, the PDP leadership led by former President Obasanjo stood on the verge of fulfilling our destiny as the true giant of Africa. The goodwill passes for a national cult- the faith could move God and Nigerians with tears of joy and great expectations held hands in unison with the reverberation: Arise Oh Compatriots across the land.
Under this party, for the first time in our history, religion, ethnicity, and regionalism took the back seat because Nigerians were ready for a fresh start. PDP held the keys for a new future, but history presents broken expectations, desecrated covenants and misplaced trust. For 16 years, the party danced naked at the market square and continues today even while the song had stopped playing long ago.
Otherwise, how would you describe the goings-on in the party? Our people say the she-goat cannot go unaided during delivery with elders at home, but the party gifted with many grey hairs and wisdom is terrified, tired and troubled on all sides to face the realities and probably an eminent defeat come 2027
If truth be told, an Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu you cannot defeat outside Aso Rock, that swarm against the leadership of his party, does not cut across like a man anyone can walk over as a sitting President simply because there is no opposition in this contraption called PDP.
The challenge is not that it lost the 2015 elections but a party of the strangest bedfellows massively infiltrated and run by lily-livered men who only roar on national dailies else why a former two-termed governor on the ticket of the party who took a ministerial position with the opposition could threaten instability in the PDP controlled state and the best done is to set-up a committee to do what precisely?
The goings-on in the party today is not necessarily the invincibility or enormous influence attributed to Mr Wike by some but a clear indication that the party is under a strangled hold by some hired undertakers and sponsored elements within the party leadership assigned the hatchet job to dismantle it before the next elections.
PDP, today, cuts the worst opposition party in the history of this country for not the lack of men but because filthy lucre and greed took centre stage. So, why would Mr Wike practically insult the PDP governors? If the party NEC is worth anything, why is the party so rudderless and clueless in providing formidable opposition and shadow government at the height of unprecedented angst and hate for the ruling party? Why so many discordance tones, pussyfooting and double-speaking by party spokespersons and supposed party stalwarts?
The beauty and strength of any modern democracy are consequent on the vibrancy and ferociousness of the opposition to keep the ruling party in check and demand better governance for the people. A beaten and broken opposition is a simple call for irresponsibility and godless adventures by the ruling party that will leave the governed harassed and impoverished.
So, in clear terms, the leadership of this party is suspect amidst countless accusations and its inability to be frontal enough to tackle the problems confronting it. Only yesterday, the governors pledged support for Governor Fubara- who had clung to power by sheer providence and the will of Rivers people. Some shameless members blame him for pledging to support the sitting President in the next elections, but why not? Since it is a game of survival and self-preservation without a shield from the party, Mr Fubara should have done worse and remained justified.
The voices of opposition in the country today are not from the political parties as collective fronts but from individuals and civil society groups demanding and fighting for good governance. Mr Peter Obi, the former Presidential aspirant of the Labour Party, has made some courteous efforts and his counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has also not hidden his resentment over alleged wrong policies by the present government, but uncoordinated, weak articulations and projection of the people’s plight will not change any government headed for disaster.
PDP has forgotten the strategies deployed by the APC in booting them out of office or lacks the will to reenact such tested arsenals. Can one say the socioeconomic conditions latched on by the APC force a change of government better than what is on the ground today? Could APC then boast of resourceful leadership and foot soldiers? Was the APC better funded while the PDP had the already looted treasury to prosecute the 2015 elections? Was the 2015 APC candidate not thoroughly damaged but cleverly sold to Nigerians as the messiah?
So, juxtaposing the PDP and APC pound for pound, capabilities, competencies and resources, was there any advantage other than the prevailing conditions post-2015 elections that changed the game? It is either the party’s leadership compromised or fraud if it cannot replicate the 2015 outcomes given the nation’s deteriorating conditions today. The party managers should adopt the strategy of the APC or come up with a similar blueprint to rattle the sitting government so that we may not necessarily waste our time and resources on another electoral process.
A party whose members collude with the opposition in exchange for political appointments, juicy positions at the national assembly or contract syndication cannot amount to anything in our political landscape.
If the leadership of the PDP cannot chart a clear path to improve its electoral fortunes in the next elections, it should disband, allow a credible opposition to emerge, and make the next contest worthwhile. This PDP is clogging the political opposition space and caricaturing what modern opposition should be. To upset the APC with the Jagaban and political maestro as the sitting President demands a rainbow coalition of the PDP, Labour, SDP and ANPP because standing alone cannot move the present political hegemony.
PDP should let Nigerians breathe because a party that cannot enforce discipline or is afraid to call erring members to order is wasting our emotions and faking being a credible opposition. The party appears troubled, tired and terrified, and the present political and socioeconomic trajectory demands more from the opposition.
