PDP and the need for a viable opposition

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the self-acclaimed largest political party in Africa, is in a quandary which has been undermining its role as the leading opposition party in the country. Unless concerted actions are taken to resolve its many problems, it will implode. That would be very sad, indeed, for our democracy, which is badly in need of a viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to engender a holistic democratic culture in the country.
The PDP, since it lost the 2015 presidential election, has been unable to hold its national convention to elect new officials who will pilot it in its new role as an opposition party, and possibly reposition it for re-election in 2019. To make matters worse, the onetime behemoth is today factionalised and panting for relevance and survival. If care is not taken, it may disintegrate and become totally irrelevant.
The PDP debacle goes back to the emergence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as acting National Chairman of the party following the voluntary resignation of Alhaji Adamu Muazu, after the PDP lost the presidency. Since then, intrigues have attended the question of whether Sheriff was properly selected, when a convention to replace him should hold and who should preside at the convention.
On this grouse, some members of the Sheriff executive committee approached a Lagos High Court and got an order of the court restraining the PDP from appointing persons into the offices of National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor.
This order was seemingly vacated by a judge of the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court who gave the go-ahead for the May 21 Convention slated for Port Harcourt. In an attempt to beat the ruling of the Lagos High Court, the PDP held what it termed a non-elective convention which ratified and gave the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee 90 days within which to hold an elective convention.
The attempt to hold the convention slated for August 17 has become enmeshed in controversy and multiple court cases with courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction giving apparently contradictory judgments. This is the dilemma of the PDP and the embarrassment of the judiciary. The courts, especially the Port Harcourt and Abuja divisions of the Federal High Court, have been acting in pari delicto (wrongly) on this matter. Both courts appear to be assuming the powers of the Court of Appeal, whereas that should not be the case. In the process, they have left the PDP gladiators and the nation in a quandary.
What the PDP rivals should do is decide whether they are going to resolve their differences employing the legal or political solution. In the case of the former, the warring parties are advised to appeal the present court judgments and be patient with the judicial processes, up to the Supreme Court (if need be) to ensure a conclusive resolution of the matter. This present attitude of cutting corners and circumventing the judicial process will not do either of the parties any good in the long run, as we are finding out.
The appellate courts will look at the constitution of the PDP vis-à-vis the constitution of the country with regards to matters of jurisdiction, including whether a Caretaker Committee, as presently constituted, is alien to the parties in the dispute, and resolve conclusively.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmoud Mohammed, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) have a responsibility to look into the circumstances surrounding the   contradictory judgments arising from courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction with a view to establishing culpability (if any) and meting out appropriate punishment. The journey to an advanced democracy and egalitarian and developed society cannot be possible without a judiciary that is patriotic and has integrity.
Embracing a political solution, on the other hand, will show the PDP as learning from some of the bitter lessons of its recent past, and assure its numerous supporters of its readiness to play its role as a vibrant opposition party which can make a strong bid for re-election in 2019. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have the will to do this. The recently constituted reconciliation panel of the Board of Trustees, the so-called “Conscience of the Party”, appears flawed, and may be dead on arrival.
It is sad that the country has so far been denied the much needed vibrant opposition to a ruling party that is enmeshed in its own contradictions. We, therefore, urge the PDP to urgently clean up its act and provide the vibrant opposition that is badly needed to deepen our democracy.