That Nigeria needs a serious opposition party to checkmate the activities of the government of the day is not in doubt. What is doubtful is whether the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have the capacity to hold the ruling party to account for their many infractions and anti-people policies. In the last few weeks, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been embroiled in series of crisis, as it has been its lot since 2015, when it lost power to the current governing party, the All-Progressives Congress (APC). But the PDP albatross is the PDP itself.
Here is a party that once thought it would be in power for 60 years. Its reign was cut short after only 16 years and the party has never been the same. Just when you think there was hope for the PDP, another crisis will erupt. The 2023 general election gave a clear indication of the party’s inability to come together when it mattered most. By way of summary, Peter Obi left PDP to join LP and Rabiu Kwankwaso debuted with his NNPP. Both men went away with a large chunk of PDP members, resulting in abysmal performance of the party in the South -east and Kano state. The damage of the renegade group of five PDP governors opposed to Atiku Abubakar’s candidature as the flagbearer of the party was incalculable.
Led by the current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the five governors who felt they were undermining only Atiku, equally succeeded in bringing down the party and ultimately paved the way for APC to win the presidential election. Wike is still basking in that glory even after one year in office as minister in a government he helped to power against his own party. Yet, the party watches in helplessness and hopelessness. The other day, Wike reiterated his earlier boast that he would neither quit the PDP, nor can the party force him out.
Forget Obafemi Awolowo, Umaru Dikko, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Lamidi Adedibu; I dare say that Wike is the most powerful politician of our time; a feat made possible by ineffectual and compromised leaderships of his party at different times. Pray, what party would tolerate indiscipline, the affront and compromises of the likes of Wike, who now has “one leg in PDP and another leg in APC”.
Therefore, when the party set up two committees the other day—disciplinary and reconciliation committees, I wondered about the task ahead especially for the disciplinary committee. Who will they discipline? Wike, Ortom, or Makinde? After trading with their party? Similarly, the objective of setting up the reconciliation committee to resolve all internal disputes and conflicts, foster harmony, and promote cohesion might be defeated again. I wish them well, but I cannot, but agree with Salihu Lukman, the former DG of Progressive Governors’ Forum who observed that the PDP is working for the opposition and that it would be a herculean task for the party to survive its leadership challenges. Is it Obi and Atiku you want to reconcile or Atiku and Kwankwaso when each is battling their own party internal resurrections?
The leaders and past beneficiaries of the party do not help matters either. Sometimes they escalate conflicts with the possibility of leading to internal explosion. Look at Chief Bode George; respected and revered, but sometimes difficult to understand. He did not want Atiku to emerge as the party flagbearer. After he (Atiku) did, Chief Bode George refused to work with or for him. He instead encouraged those five governors in their rebellion and opposition to Atiku. Today he is talking about reconciliation after he failed woefully at it.
“I know we have internal crisis in our party, it’s normal. There’s no organization anywhere in the world where you will not have some disagreement. I am pleading with all sides to calm their nerves. We can get back to the table and discuss at length. All participants should drop their personal ambitions. Hatred, pettiness and jealousy are normal all over the world. We can disagree without being disagreeable.”
The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has become a divisive figure in the party instead of being a rallying point for election victory. Atiku stuck to Iyorchia Ayu as chairman of the party as if he (Iyorchia) was the messiah, whereas advising him to step down, to avoid accusation of bias against the South would perhaps have saved the day. Those five governors might still have stuck to their guns, having been accused of working for the opposition then (as reiterated by Lukman above), but Ayu’s “magnanimity in stepping down” could have doused tension and shifted the blame. Who knows! These days, the same Atiku has constituted himself as a lone opposition to the obnoxious policies of the government. Good, however, opposition is more than a presidential election loser criticising his opponent/president’s policies. It is taken as a given with a shrug, ‘what do you expect’?
An effective opposition is about patriotism and mobilising the populace against unpopular government policies, but doing it outside the opposition party context smacks of lack of cohesion in the party and personal vendetta. Atiku should reconcile his opposition with that of the party to be able to achieve more. He should also be in the forefront of their new reconciliation moves to remove the toga of a run-away party leader.
Talking about taming erring party members reminds me of not just Wike, but another typical Nigerian politician like Senator Dino Melaye, who described Umar Damagun’s leadership of the party as “commercialised and privatised.” This obviously is not leadership. As a beneficiary of the party, there are diplomatic ways to address their complex relationship than throwing accusations here and there. Again, this does not indicate commitment to reconciliation.
The PDP frontliners, in reaction said “Many who benefited generously from PDP are now among the party’s biggest headaches, Dino Melaye got PDP ticket to the House of Representatives, and even after returning from the APC, the PDP gave him a senatorial ticket after prevailing on other qualified aspirants to step down, but you can all see the baseless and groundless insult he is using to pay back.” Biting the fingers that feed them is synonymous with the Nigerian politicians, so I align with the frontliners.
Indeed, politicians are a rare breed; they drag their party in the mud and benefit from it. I won’t be surprised to see Melaye campaigning for the APC in the next dispensation. Politicians cause divisions in their party and use same as an excuse to either quit or derail its progress. PDP harbours many of such characters.
I really hope the opposition—whether LP, PDP or NNPP can put their house in order, surmount their challenges and help nurture democracy, but first members must show commitment to party politics and not serve as moles for the ruling party. Saving PDP is tantamount to saving democracy.
* Zainab Suleiman Okino chairs Blueprint Editorial Board. She can be reached via: zainabokino@gmail.com