APC, PDP in a tale of two summits
A balanced traction in Nigeria’s leadership politics, which had been wavering for some time, may be returning to address the seeming stagnation in political progression in the country, especially with respect to the opposition front, courtesy of the recent meetings of the leaderships of the two leading political parties in the country. First was the leadership […]
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A balanced traction in Nigeria’s leadership politics, which had been wavering for some time, may be returning to address the seeming stagnation in political progression in the country, especially with respect to the opposition front, courtesy of the recent meetings of the leaderships of the two leading political parties in the country.
First was the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which met to review the party’s mid-term performance under President Bola Tinubu at its national summit, which held at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, May 22 2025, with the theme: ‘Renewed Hope Agenda: The Journey So Far.’ What was intended as a forum for the consolidation of the party’s structure and review of the president’s performance eventually turned out as both a grant of a pass mark on him and the launch of a pre-emptive rally for his reelection come 2027.
Just as well, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also held its own summit, being the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Against the backdrop of the long period of disharmony within the party, the meeting was for a different cauldron of challenges, with the priority being putting its house in order. Hence it was a major success (given the circumstances) that the PDP NEC meeting even took place at all. It had been postponed severally. And even as it was about to commence, its national secretariat was sealed off by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), which cited the party’s indebtedness in respect of outstanding statutory fees for its premises. Yet, in a make-or-break dispensation, the meeting was relocated elsewhere and eventually held.
Incidentally, even as both meetings had the common goal of preparations for the forthcoming 2027 general polls, the import of each of them was not lost on the rest of Nigerians as they offered signals to help discern the course of the country’s politics for the near future.
For the APC, beyond the advertised purpose of the summit, of concern to many Nigerians was the blanket endorsement of the president’s performance at mid-term, especially by the National Assembly caucus of the party led by the president of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, who praised President Bola Tinubu to high heavens.
The copious adulations on Tinubu by these two leaders expectedly attracted mixed reactions from not a few Nigerians given their hybrid statuses as both members of the president’s APC, but more importantly, as constituting the apex leadership of the country’s central legislature – the National Assembly, which is constitutionally mandated to hold the executive arm accountable – the very president they were showering praises on.
For some time, not a few Nigerians have raised concerns over the spate of seemingly diminished scrutiny of the proclivities of the president by the National Assembly, especially when such run in conflict with the provisions of the constitution. Even as the country under the leadership of Bola Tinubu has recorded some perceptible reversals of its hitherto dire circumstances, especially in the economy, the still excruciating conditions of living of the average Nigerian render the adulations on the president rather too early as the premise for the praises hardly reflect the realities on Nigerian streets. This was just as the messy situation in Rivers State – currently under an unconstitutional state of emergency – remains not only unresolved but is even sinking deeper into a vortex of forgetfulness and abandonment by the National Assembly. Hence the call for his assured re-election reached a wider cross-section of Nigerians as more or less a pre-emptive assault on their sensitivities as it was aimed at fostering a ‘fait accompli’ in respect of the re-election of Tinubu.
As for the PDP, not a few Nigerians welcomed the seeming return of the party as a sign that the opposition front – feeble as it may seem for now – may be coming back into business of providing alternative perspectives in governance, thereby allaying the fears of Nigeria’s politics degenerating into a one-party affair. Given that the PDP had since its loss of power at the centre ten years ago in 2015, not found its rhythm as a united body, questions abound not only over its future but that of capacity to drive opposition politics in the country. Hence while the APC has a head-start over the PDP with respect to preparations for 2027 general polls, the question remains what the future holds for the parties and the country’s politics going forward.
In the context of the foregoing therefore, politics in the country may have formally lapsed into the frenzied jostle for electoral advantage come 2027; a dispensation that may diminish the attention of President Bola Tinubu on core governance for the rest of his tenure.
Given that this scenario fits into the tradition of tenure politics for potentates in Nigeria, the future of the Renewed Hope Agenda may actually be hanging in the balance, with the result of several promises ending up unfulfilled.
This is where we are right now.