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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
What does the future hold for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? That is the question agitating the minds of stakeholders as the opposition party battles internal strife and defections of its members across the country ahead of the 2027 general election.
The PDP, which was founded in 1998 by the G-34, a group of eminent Nigerians led by former vice President Alex Ekwueme of blessed memory governed the country for 16 years. In its hey days, PDP, which is today the oldest existing political party stood tall like an iroko tree in the Nigerian political firmament, controlling the federal government, with an overwhelming majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly and more than two -third of the 36 states, across the country.
However, the game changed for the PDP in 2015, following a humiliating defeat by the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since then, it has been a litany of woes for the party, as it battled one crisis after another. Efforts by the major opposition party to regain control of government has been unsuccessful, as it both lost the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections. It also failed to regain majority in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Moreover, the PDP has been bedevilled for long with internal crisis, since it lost power in 2015. From the power tussle between the former National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the PDP governors, shortly after the 2015 general elections, which resulted to the factionalisation of the party, with Sheriff leading one faction and the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led National Caretaker Committee, which was backed by the governors, leading another; to the crises that led to the ouster of Prince Uche Secondus and Senator Iyorchia Ayu as national chairmen, to the recent tussle over the office of the National Secretary, it has been a litany of woes for the opposition party.
Analysts say the endless crises, which has weakened the party considerably in recent times, is fuelled by power tussle for influential members of the PDP, who are interested in controlling the levers of power to advance their interests in the 2027 general elections and beyond. The result is that the PDP, which was once the beautiful bride among politicians, is desperately gasping for air in the run-up to the 2027 polls.
The chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohamed, while addressing the 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) of the opposition party, last week, admitted that while there are challenges in the party, they were orchestrated by external forces to diminish the platform.
According to him, “we have been engrossed in controversies and challenges, not created by us, but created for us, and we have been navigating, unlike the other parties, irrespective of the manifestations and the perceptions there. The news of people leaving the party are all cosmetic. They are all created to diminish us.”
Amid hopes that with the resolution of the controversy over the office of National Secretary of the party, the PDP can quickly pull itself together and begin to prepare seriously for the next general elections, recent developments in the polity, especially the adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) by key opposition politicians, including PDP leaders, is raising concerns about the future of the major opposition party.
In the aftermath of the unveiling, some key leaders of the opposition party have been gravitating towards the ADC, further depleting the ranks of the PDP.
Vote of no confidence by Atiku, others
Prior to the unveiling, prominent PDP leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President, David Mark, Aminu Tambuwal, Liyel Imoke, Babangida Aliyu, Gabriel Suswam and Sam Egwu, former governors of Sokoto Cross River, Niger, Benue and Ebonyi states respectively, after a meeting, which lasted for over four hours, last week Tuesday, passed a damning verdict on the major opposition party.
The party leaders, which also included former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, former Minister of Police Affairs, Waziri Maina; Senator Abdul Ningi, Senator Tunde Ogbeha and former Minister of External Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, among others, said the PDP, in its present form, cannot lead an onslaught against the APC in the 2027 polls. According to them, vested interests within the PDP, as well as alleged failure by the leadership to abide by its constitution has greatly diminished the opposition party.
Consequently, they implored PDP members nationwide to join the coalition to rescue the country from the APC. While some have yielded to this call, some members of the opposition party say they prefer to stay in the party and work for the ADC in the 2027 polls.
“The inability of PDP leadership to lead the party by its constitution, rules and regulations led it into a chaotic and undisciplined party! The vision of the founding fathers for which the party was established and the role it played in restoring Nigeria as stable and united country and key player on the regional, continental, and global stage has been washed away just as our roles as the leader of the black race is now overtaken by smaller and less endowed countries. Painfully, Nigeria is now a diminished country and an embarrassment on the world stage!
“The PDP, which is organic with the discipline, capacity, and history to lead and save Nigeria, is now a shadow of its old self. The heatwave unleashed by the APC Federal Government through threats, blackmail and patronage has forced elected officers in government to abandon the PDP,” they stated in a communique issued after the meeting.
Gale of defections
Last week, Mark, who emerged interim National Chairman of the ADC, after the unveiling of the party as the platform of the opposition coalition for the 2027 polls, resigned from the PDP, joining a growing list of top politicians, who have dumped the opposition party, in recent times. The former senate president, in his resignation letter, noted that “deepening divisions, persistent leadership crisis, and irreconcilable differences” in the PDP have made it a subject of “public ridicule”.
Recently, the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevberi and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Umo Eno, as well as the PDP 2023 vice presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, defected to the APC, alongside their supporters. And there are fears that five more governors elected on the platform of the opposition party might dump the PDP in the coming days.
Before now, prominent PDP leaders including former senate president, Pius Anyim, former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, former Kastina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, former speaker of the Abia State , House of Assembly, Chinedu Orji, member of the PDP Board of Trustees(BoT), Shuaibu Oyedokun amongst others had dumped the party.
There are also concerns that gravitation of prominent PDP leaders towards the ADC may trigger a new wave of defections in the oldest political party, as well as exacerbated incidences of anti-party activities by members, which has brought the party to its knees.
Party leaders upbeat about 2027
Nevertheless, leaders of the opposition party, are optimistic that the PDP will bounce back in the 2027 election. The chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, while speaking at 100th NEC meeting of the party said Nigerians still have enormous faith in the party.
“This party will never die. We shall survive. The god of politics is in this party. Allah of politics is in this party. For anybody, any other party, to succeed, we have to release our God to bless them. But our God knows that PDP is the beacon of hope for this country,” Wabara declared.
Like Wabara, the PDP acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, said the party will overcome its challenges and bounce back strongly. Damagum cautioned members, who are making plans to defect that they will not find a platform as accommodating like the PDP.
“We have mastered the act of conflict resolution. We know our problems and we solve it within ourselves. To those that are contemplating(defection), they should know that there is no place and there is nowhere that will be as accommodating as our party. I know they will run back,” he stated.
Damagum said the opposition party will take decisive action against any of its members, who de-markets it.
Former PDP National Vice Chairman (South West), Eddy Olafeso, said the move of some PDP members to other platforms, including the ADC, may be what the party needs to prepare itself for the challenges ahead. “It might be exactly what we need to reinforce ourselves for the future. Nobody can predict the future accurately, because all power belongs to God.”
Nonetheless, Olafeso, who is also a member of the PDP BoT, while appealing to those on the verge of ditching the party to have a rethink, noted that the opposition party must take the right step to be relevant in the 2027 contest.
“If people are leaving, people will come. So, the party, will remain. But we have to do the right thing to be relevant in 2027 and continue to rebuild our party. What we need is to do the needful by talking to one another, by appealing to one another, let’s work together,” he added.
