The political behemoth known as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the largest political party in Africa, as its chieftains fondly refer to it, an appellation that is clearly a misnomer best described as a cheerful expression of a glutinous, privileged few feeding fat on state resources, because the claim is not based on any empirical, comparative yardstick. At the height of its power and might, the PDP arrogantly projected it was going to rule for 60 years, irrespective of its performance in government. This projection was cut short in 2015 after a 16-year rule that was generally characterised by good, bad and ugly times. The PDP is generally perceived to have failed to deliver on the high expectations of a stable, secure and prosperous Nigerian nation. The most visible failure of past PDP administrations was in their inability to achieve self-sufficiency in power, energy and steel for economic development. The legacy of inadequate power generation, energy output and steel production makes the foundation on which some very modest economic gains were built as weak as quicksand.
The fall of the PDP from power was not entirely because of its less than average economic performance while in government alone. The political misadventure of the former ruling party was more responsible for its fall from the Olympian height to the abyss of helplessness and hopelessness that is the partyt’s lot today. The dominance of PDP was enhanced greatly by an electoral umpire, INEC, which was made heavily dependent on the PDP-controlled executive by coercion and monetary gratification of its officials. Security agencies where deployed to serve the partisan interest of the PDP and not the interest of Nigerians. Elections became largely a symbolic exercise, which was a coronation of PDP candidates whose emergence was not a reflection of the free choice of the electorate. In a system heavily rigged in favour of the then ruling party, votes cast in an election didn’t count. Once you became a PDP flag-bearer, you were sure to get ‘elected’. The result of this situation was a complete detachment from the masses on thye part of the pseudo-elected public office-holders. Political office-holders held and used their privileged post for personal benefit and not for the common good of the people because they were not really elected by the people. They served the corrupt interest that produced them and not the people’s interest. The PDP gradually and steadily began to assume an anti-people posture. Having systematically conquered the electoral space, the real effort to get elected shifted to the internal process of the party, which threw up candidates for election, the party primaries. Thus began an internal struggle for the control of party structures by the various actors within the party. The bitter struggle degenerated to a situation where the PDP was the only opposition to the PDP. Lack of internal democracy, characterised by imposition of candidates by a dubious, self-seeking and self-preserving process enshrined in its constitution under the influence of the presidents and governors elected on the platform of the party, ensured that the struggle within the PDP made sure only the weak, and not the fittest, survived. The strongest and fittest could not be trusted to be loyal because of their sense of self-worth. The weak, who were openly unambitious, meek, obedient, and subjectively loyal to the emerging order were trusted and given control of party structures to the chagrin of time-tested politicians who had genuine influence and mass following. Dissenting voices were not tolerated anymore. Sycophancy, bootlicking and songs of praise were rewarded handsomely. Truth, sincerity of purpose and fidelity among party members took flight from the PDP. Gradually but steadily, strong politicians began to leave the PDP to join and energise the almost non-existent opposition parties. By this time, the PDP had become a thriving enterprise with guarantee of very high returns on investments. The major binding force of the various interest groups that aggregated under the umbrella was the equitable sharing of loot at the expense of the state treasury. This venture was systematically entrenched by the zoning and rotation arrangement of political offices across board from top to bottom.
The direct cause of implosion and the eventual loss of power of the PDP was the violation of the zoning and rotation arrangement within the party by former President Goodluck Jonathan in his insistence on running twice, in 2011 and 2015, against the gentleman’s agreement in the party. This less-than-gentlemanly decision of Jonathan’s was poised to distort the equitable distribution of loot and skew it in favour of his Niger Delta region. The last batch of the strong and fittest politicians opposed to the re-election of Jonathan left the party and joined forces with other interest groups to form the most formidable opposition party in the history of the fourth republic, the All Progressives Congress (APC). A combination of a weakened party with fewer and weaker membership and an extreme, neo-liberal economic practice, which enriched a few and impoverished the vast majority, the PDP was easily defeated by the opposition coalition as it cut short its 60-year rule projection to 16.
If the PDP failed Nigerians while in government, the party has failed Nigerians more in opposition. The party is currently factionalised and embroiled in internal struggle for power. The biggest problem of the PDP today is its governor’s forum; a group that seeks to continue the same undemocratic and unethical practices that brought down the party. Their eyes are not set on the bigger picture of making the party a formidable force as an alternative to the APC; they are rather focused on controlling party structures, to the exclusion of their perceived opponents. They have turned their various state chapters of the party into personal political fiefdoms. This has strengthened their hold on the party but, ultimately, weakened the party more. The governors do not inspire genuine followership among the larger society because of their misrule and underperformance. Governance in the states is at the lowest in 16 years. There are no viable projects but a backlog of salaries running into several months. The unfavourable perception of the governors is rubbing off on the image of the party. Until PDP governors begin to play politics of inclusion by yielding their absolute control of the structures of the party to other stakeholders, the party will never regain strength. After the mass exodus of strong politicians from the PDP, the party is left with weak politicians who can’t win elections without federal might and presidential incumbency. Some members of the party, including some sitting governors, are already plotting their defection into the ruling APC.
These weak politicians cannot endure the rigours of opposition. They are yes-men. The recent abysmal performance of PDP in the gubernatorial election in Ondo State is symptomatic of the decay and weakness of the PDP as well as the self-inflicted, deep crisis ravaging the party. In the face of a woeful performance in power by the APC-led federal government, the PDP has not been able to draw from its experience in government and clearly articulate an alternative socio-economic policy that comprehensively addresses the current challenges facing the nation. The grim reality of this failure leaves Nigerians no alternative than to live with the spectre of another four years of an APC-led federal government despite its huge underperformance on its first mandate.