Warning to PDP! Watch out, APC is coming! November 15, 2013 | Filed under: Politics | Posted by: Administrator A few moths ago, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered the All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of three political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had, in welcoming the new opposition political party, stated that it did not feel threatened. For a political party, which prides itself as the largest in Africa, one would not have expected less. There’s always the temptation to think that all is well, even when the writing on the wall indicates otherwise. Besides, the arrogance of invincibility, which made the PDP to boast that it would rule Nigeria for nothing less than 60 years, will not allow it to see beyond its nose. However, with what is happening in the polity, I wonder if the PDP would still sound so optimistic, as it did a few months ago. Would the PDP say APC is really no threat? Methinks that the PDP dares not. If it does, it means that leaders of the political party and their members are not only living in a fool’s paradise but also not in tune with reality. Yes, it’s becoming obvious that the APC is a threat to PDP and a formidable one at that. This gives some hope that the era of having a single dominant political party, which would be in control of about two-thirds of the nation and, therefore, feels that it’s the best thing that has happened to Nigeria, is coming to an end. It means that the country is going for a two-party state, in the main, irrespective of the fact that there may be other small political parties in control of a sprinkle of states and local governments. To be sure, the APC is beginning to prove that it means business, in its avowed quest to displace the PDP from the Federal Government, at best, or reduce its stature, at most. In the last couple of weeks, the APC has been strategic in its thinking and moves. The political party’s leaders have been going round the country wooing top Nigerian politicians. Using a team made up of General Mohammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande and others, the APC has met, one after another, the seven aggrieved PDP governors and asking them to join its fold. They have equally met with such powerful political figures in the North, like former Heads of State, General Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. They have also met with one of the strongmen of Edo politics, Brigadier-General Samuel Ogbemudia. They would meet with other politicians, from South to North, who would help them achieve the goal already outlined. Perhaps, the PDP thinks that this merry-go-round by the APC is a jamboree. I see a well-articulated programme to deplete the stronghold of the ruling political party and pull the rug from under its feet. I would say the APC leaders are smart. They may have reckoned that the dismantling of the PDP could only come with the support of the ruling political party’s members. Therefore, they are progressively wooing members of the PDP, especially those that have one score or another to settle with the party. If this approach yields result, it will deal a big blow on the PDP. And with this, Nigeria would have been provided an alternative political party that could take over the reins of power at the federal level easily, in free and fair elections. To say the least, I have never seen a political party as insensitive and arrogant as the PDP. At a time when APC is making no pretence that it wants to reap from the implosion of the PDP, the ruling political party is behaving as if it has been destined to crumble. And the PDP is shamelessly accusing the APC of poaching. Why won’t APC members poach from PDP when they know that it’s only when those who make their rival political party thick leave that the bubble would burst? And why would they not poach when the PDP appears not to know the value of some of its members? Within the PDP, seven governors have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with what is happening in the party. They had formed what they called New PDP and openly fraternising with the opposition party. Instead of addressing the issue involved, with the view to making peace and having one united front, the PDP is busy expelling other members. How would anybody place the fact that a PDP that’s being threatened by APC would expel Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Alhaji Abubakar Kawo Baraje, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja and Alhaji Ibrahim Kazaure, in one fell swoop and still boasting that it would axe others? It does appear that the PDP is destined for self-destruct. For the leadership of the PDP to continue to adopt a belligerent attitude, when caution is required, tells me that, perhaps, God wants to teach the political party a lesson. It is strange to me that a political party that wants to remain relevant in the polity of the country and also in control of power is taking actions that would erode the things that make it strong. It’s the same way the PDP, in the name of re-registration of members, pushed many of its staunch members out. Two prominent members of the PDP, who suffered the fate include former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. Of course, the PDP did pay for it. For instance, having been pushed out, Kalu had no other choice than to form the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), which won the governorship election in Abia and Imo states in 2007. The PDP will suffer the same fate if it pushes Chubuike Amaechi of Rivers State out. Of course, if the PDP also kicks out Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa), it would lose their states. It happened before, in Abia and Imo. It will happen again. There are many Nigerians who want PDP to be destroyed. I guess that they so wish not because they think that all members of the PDP are devils but simply because the few people who are controlling the political party have arrogated to themselves the power of life and death. These lords of PDP, mainly because of selfish interest, are running roughshod on others. Expulsion, suspension and punishment appear to be the only words in their dictionary. Some people would say that the PDP is right in its action of disciplining its members, who are involved in “anti-party activities.” My question is: What’s anti-party activity? If raising issues and asking questions about things that one considers not right is seen as anti-party activity, then the PDP could as well run a zombie political party, where members would adopt “siddon look.” If leaders of the PDP want a “zombie” political party, what then is the essence of democracy? Political parties are made up of people with divergent interests and characters. It’s the ability to manage the interests and ideas that makes the difference. Certainly, PDP will destroy itself if the arrogance and warring posture of its leadership is not curtailed. The National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, should change his style and learn to apply diplomacy and caution, when they are necessary. If he continues the “kill them” attitude, he may wake up one day to discover that he has no political party to chair. Indeed, if the PDP knows that one day it may be reduced to a minority in the National Assembly, when it would force many of its federal lawmakers to defect to the APC, which is a plot in the making, it would know that doom is facing it. My word, therefore, for the PDP is: Watch out, APC is coming. If the PDP dismisses this warning, as it normally does, it would be at its peril. One thing that’s clear is this: Whenever PDP loses power at the centre, it will take the grace of God for it to regain it.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 13:19:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015