By
Rahman Owokoniran
Since the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lost out in the 2015 elections, it has struggled and is still struggling to take up the place of a vibrant opposition. One can argue that it was never designed to be an opposition party. Perhaps that is why it seems to be rambling around.
However, how long will it take the party as a whole to realize that the people’s patience is exhausted from the lacklustre pace at which it has been operating as the de facto opposition party?
How acceptable is this in a country where there has been widespread violence, terrorist invasions, mass murder and killings of innocent people and other criminal activities against humanity? This messy situation has become so damaging to the country that every aspect of life has become a nightmare for its people.
Economics-wise, the people’s earnings have plummeted to less than half of its pre-APC value. Many industries and enterprises have been forced into bankruptcy by financial crisis; all these result from the APC-led government’s imposed policies.
This has become an ongoing trend forever since the APC government took over in 2015 under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. This current administration unfortunately has only taken governance to a new low in the last two years with the recent rise in violence and corruption, which have further led to an escalation of tensions in the various communities nationwide, coupled with the poor government policies that are not people friendly. All these make the recipe for a stunted economy.
With all these facts in place, where is the voice of the main opposition party, the PDP?
It is no longer news that the greatest disenchantment of the populace, who are yearning for a genuine change, comes from the fact that the opposition has become too weak and rather invisible. Why should that be?
There are many schools of thoughts on why this so. I will be listing a few.
1) The main opposition party PDP has been compromised by the ruling party’s infiltration at all levels. Thereby controlling the narrative of the opposition party and making it difficult to maintain orderliness in the party’s ranks and leadership. This makes planning and decision-making highly difficult, in order to maintain the opposition. How can a party that cannot maintain order internally be trusted to govern the nation?
2) The opposition party leaders seem to lack any sense of urgency or confidence to take necessary action against the government. They seem to be content with the status quo. This is the more reason why the people are suspecting that the party leaders are reluctant to seize the initiative to take decisive actions against irritable and dangerous people who have been violating the rules and regulations of the party.
3) The opposition party’s lack of courage to take decisive measures against erring members is not only an aberration but also a sign of weakness. The general public is often more concerned about the setbacks or failures of the opposition to engage the ruling party meaningfully. Currently, the public is very much interested in what could have been responsible for the two years’ delay in addressing the crisis plaguing the party since it lost the presidential election in 2023.
Synonymous with the crisis mentioned above is an individual who lost his bid to be nominated as the Presidential Candidate and has since been waging a war of attrition against the party since the last two years. He is not only determined to pull the party down but also uncompromising to its goals of wrecking the party’s chances of winning the next general elections. He has openly declared his intention to support the ruling party and vowed to vote against the party’s candidate. Yet the leadership has remained numb to his rants and threats. When is enough going to be enough to stop this nonsense? Is any individual greater than the party?
Lest we forget, there are many of such characters at all the levels of the party, even down to the grassroots.
PDP’S constitution is well-crafted to ensure that the party system works as envisaged by the founding fathers. The internal mechanisms that govern the system are sufficient to ensure probity and accountability.
Why then does it take forever for these mechanisms to be triggered by the authorities?
Perhaps the school of thought that says the current PDP governors and leaders are content with the status quo may just be right. Otherwise what can be the possible explanation for tolerating this discordant and errant behaviour?
Governance wise and in retrospect, the PDP years have proven to be far better than those of the APC. Even a former APC Governor has admitted to this notable fact publicly.
The PDP must examine itself critically and do away with the stumbling blocks in the party. For those who think themselves larger than the party, the party must wield the big stick.
PDP must activate all organs that will set it back on track as the leading opposition organisation, as well as give the party the electoral victory that will push it back into national government.
So help us God.
OWOKONIRAN WROTE FROM LAGOS
