By Chukwudi Nweje

Prior to the 2023 general election, not many Nigerians knew anything about the Labour Party (LP). The electoral contest has always been a two-horse race between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Not even the emergence of Mr. Peter Obi as the presidential candidate of the LP could change the position of this class of Nigerians as they claimed Obi had just committed a political suicide by joining a party that has no single structure anywhere in Nigeria. But Nigerians, particularly the youths, were bent on proving them wrong, as they trooped out in their thousands to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in preparation to change the country’s political calculus to the surprise of many, especially the conservatives. 

However, the LP’s impressive performance in the just concluded 2023 general elections in Nigeria, which many now see as a revolutionary trend in the country’s politics worthy to be sustained and improved upon, did not come as a surprise to many critical observers.

Again, that the LP, which many politicians, especially those in the APC dismissed as a party without structure, came third in the presidential election and even defeated the APC in Lagos State, considered to be the stronghold its presidential candidate and now president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, still remains a miracle to many. The feat is an indication that elections in Nigeria are fast moving away from being decided by the candidate’s political party platform to the candidate’s character and competence, as well as the electorates’ perception of the candidate. This assertion is copiously given credence by the outcome of the 2023 general election.

The results so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shown that the APC has a narrow majority in the Senate with 59 members-elect out of the 109 members, the PDP has 36 senators-elect, the LP has eight senatorial seats, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have two seats each, while the Young Peoples Party (YPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have one seat each. The figures showed that the opposition parties have 50 senators in the 10th Senate against the APC’s 59; a development that poses a formidable challenge to the ruling party as the opposition parties are capable of keeping the ruling party constantly on its toes if they work together.

The scenario is not different in the House of Representatives, where the opposition parties have 182 seats, one seat more than the statutory benchmark of 181 votes required to elect the Speaker of the House. The breakdown shows that the PDP won 118 senate seats, the LP 35, the NNPP 19, the APGA five and the SDP two, while the African Democratic Party (ADC) and the YPP have one seat each.

Beside the national assembly seats, the opposition parties also recorded impressive performances by defeating incumbent parties to win state governorship elections. For instance, the LP defeated the ruling PDP to win the Abia State governorship election, while the NNPP equally defeated the ruling APC to win the governorship election in Kano State.

Analysts agreed that the feat by these opposition parties, especially the LP, NNPP, SDP, ADC, and others is phenomenal because it is the first time since the return to democracy in 1999 that the opposition political parties would pull such a big surprise to join the APC and the PDP, considered by many as opposite sides of the same coin, in the national legislature.

Those who follow political journey in Nigeria have describe the development as inspiring because if the new entrants play their cards very well by working together or forming a strong alliance, they would pose a formidable force to challenge the APC and the PDP in the legislature,

New parties, old faces

While the electoral victories of the new parties are commendable, it is important to state that many of the beneficiaries are politicians of the old order, who only defected from their old parties after they had lost nomination to contest the election. They only considered the new patties as a fallback.

This is why the LP and the other parties must look beyond the current euphoria of their victory and explore ways to remain relevant in the political space. It is worthy to note that the LP is not a new party because it was formed as far back as 2002. It is even older than the APC that was registered on February 6, 2013.

The LP had been dormant except for the periods of February 4, 2009, to February 24, 2017, when Dr. Olusegun Mimiko served as Governor of Ondo State on its platform following the Election Petition Tribunal’s judgement of July 2008 and subsequent February 2009 Court of Appeal concordance that nullified Olusegun Agagu as winner of the Ondo State Governorship election of 2007. This shows that the LP’s showings at the elections largely had to do with the character of its candidates.

The LP started recuperating in May 2022 when the Prof Pat Utomi-led National Consultative Front (NCFront), a body consisting of eminent Nigerians, the labour unions and civil society organisations, after over one year of consultations, adopted the party as the platform to challenge the dominance of the political scene by the APC and the PDP. The party received a boost after Peter Obi, a two-term former Governor of Anambra State on the platform of APGA, emerged as its presidential candidate after he was frustrated out of the PDP, where was a presidential aspirant.

Three other aspirants of the LP, Prof Utomi, Olubusola Emmanuel-Tella, and Faduri Joseph, all stepped down for Obi at the presidential primary of the party in Asaba, Delta State, on May 30, where a total of 185 delegates were to vote.

Obi had earlier withdrawn from the PDP’s presidential primary and resigned from the PDP in a letter dated May 24, 2022, where he lamented that the recent developments within the PDP had made it impossible for him to continue participating and making constructive contributions to national development.

According to him, the nation’s challenges were deep-seated and required profound sacrifices towards rescuing the country.

Beyond 2023 victories

As the new parties take over their respective governments, they must not be carried away by the benefits of office, but must look to the future and see how to improve on the 2023 victories.

The presidential candidate of the SDP in the election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, noted that while the victories were worthy of celebration, they did not translate to deepening democracy, as what happened was that the political elite were no longer limited to two franchises.

He said: “It is not a sign that democracy is being deepened. What has happened is that the political elite is no longer limited to two franchises. They are now able to spread out. These people who won elections are part of the older parties.

“Labour Party is the Christian and southern arm of the PDP that broke out because of what they perceived to be an attempt by the other group to take their turn from them. Some went into the LP, and some became G5, while others stayed behind in the PDP to tackle the usurper from within.

“You have heard about the LP House of Representatives winner who is an Okada rider, but the man is an experienced politician, who had played various roles at the local government level in the PDP.

“Alex Otti, who won the governorship poll in Abia State, is the most experienced politician in that election and he had been in the PDP and APC.

“In Anambra State, Victor Umeh, who was re-elected Senator, was a former National Chairman of the APGA, and a Senator of the party. Tony Nwoye, another Senator-elect was former chairman of the PDP in Anambra State, and later went to APC; so it is not as if they are new to politics.

“In the SDP, we are happy to see our candidates win, but those who won are also experienced politicians, who came from the other parties. There is nothing new in this.”

Task before Obi, LP, others

To deepen democracy in Nigeria, the new parties in government must realise that the battle for democracy has just begun. Obi by virtue of being the presidential candidate of the LP, is by extension, the national leader of the LP, and the responsibility is on his shoulders to ensure that candidates elected on its platform live up to expectations.

He must, therefore, work with other leaders of the party to ensure that the elected officers of LP play the role of an active and constructive opposition party and keep the ruling party on its toes.

The LP must endeavour to build a solid membership base of genuine men and women of integrity and competence; qualities that endeared millions of Nigerians, who supported Obi to the LP, and not a crop of fair-weather politicians.

It is no secret that many of those who won the election on the platform of the LP lost nominations in other parties before joining the LP. This is the time for them to prove their integrity by remaining members of the LP. They must shun defection while serving the tenure the LP offered them.

The LP and its leadership must bring in more youths into the party structure at all levels. The party owes its 2023 electoral successes to the hundreds of thousands of youths attracted to its presidential candidate, and they must be rewarded.

Most importantly, the LP must strive to win more positions in the off-season governorship elections coming up on November 11, 2023, in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States, and in the Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun States off-season governorship elections that will be held before the next general elections in 2027. This is the only way the party will establish itself as a formidable political force in Nigeria.

Last line

To sustain the gains it has made in 2023, the LP must strive for true democracy by being a party of the people, by the people and for the people.

As Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the party’s 2023 governorship candidate in Lagos State noted during an interactive session with the press, it must strengthen its grassroots base and shun being an elitist political party.

According to Rhodes-Vivour, “The LP focuses on the grassroots, and building a robust local government system because the local government is the engine room of our movement. The people at the grassroots should be people who love the party and should be potential governors.”