Nigeria: Time for a new opposition front

Recent trends in Nigeria’s political firmament easily point to an incipient tectonic shift in its political firmament towards a one-party dispensation. It would seem that the days of multiparty democracy are receding fast into antiquity, leaving the country out on a limb to contend once more with monolithic leadership structure as was the order during […]

Recent trends in Nigeria’s political firmament easily point to an incipient tectonic shift in its political firmament towards a one-party dispensation. It would seem that the days of multiparty democracy are receding fast into antiquity, leaving the country out on a limb to contend once more with monolithic leadership structure as was the order during the days of military dictatorship – only that this time, it will hopefully be by civilian potentates.

On a daily basis, the proclivities of the leading lights of the country’s political class tend towards acts of commission and omission, which reinforce the manifestation and consolidation of the dominance of a ruling party (this time it is the All Progressives Congress (APC)), and the weakening of the opposition front, which comprises the leading opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the rest; and the 17 registered, as well as active political parties. The ultimate implication is the death of opposition parties and the absence of alternative approaches to governance, along with loss of the civil liberties that Nigerians enjoy presently and even take for granted. As a corollary to this situation is the evolution of a new opposition front for the country by any means if democracy will survive.

While both multiparty and one-party political dispensations have merits and demerits, which can be used to justify or discredit any of them, the more disposed to better drive good governance in Nigeria’s over all best interests depends on the country’s historical and political circumstances. Hence any tendency in the form that is currently playing out as the shift from the in-vogue and operational multiparty dispensation in the country needs to be seen with justified concern and discretion. That is why the ongoing tacit reconfiguration and reorientation of the country’s political terrain constitutes a matter of significant concern for any one that places a premium on Nigeria’s future.

Among the instances that call for caution over the shifting sands of Nigerian politics is the recent swap of partisan direction in the hitherto PDP stronghold, Delta State of Nigeria. In a move that offered mixed feelings to  not few observers last Wednesday, the state’s leadership of the PDP announced that party’s wholesale defection to the ruling APC. This was announced by Senator James Manager, a multi-time former PDP senator and political leader in the state, just as it was corroborated by the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, who described the PDP as ‘old wine’ that has lost its taste.

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In essence, the political hue of the state is now the APC as Governor Sheriff Oborovweri, along with the entire leadership structure, is now in the APC camp awaiting their formal reception by the party.  Reportedly, also in the bandwagon is Ifeanyi Okowa, the former governor of the state, who was also the vice presidential candidate and running mate to Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 general polls.

Incidentally, just a fortnight before the Delta State development, the governor of Akwa Ibo State, Umo Eno, also of the PDP, had publicly declared his resolve to work for the re-election of the incumbent President Bola Tinubu of the APC in the forthcoming 2027 general polls. That development puts paid to whatever expectation of support from him for the PDP with respect to its presidential campaign plans for 2027.

Meanwhile, even before the twists in both Akwa Ibom and Delta States, there had been instances of defection from one party to another, especially from the PDP to the APC, featuring prominent political leaders from different parts of the country. Even in Rivers State, there is currently an unresolved matter bordering on defection by the entire members of the House of Assembly, with associated twists leading to a declaration of a state of emergency in the state and the imposition of a sole administrator there.  

However, the recent twist in Delta State, which involves the defection by the entire machinery of governance at both the state and local government tiers, must qualify as not only unprecedented but leaves a deluge of questions unanswered. Typical questions range from motive for the development, the pressures that drove the exercise, as well as implications for Delta State as a whole, the PDP at the state level and the national body.

Also on the card is the fate of the legislators in the Delta State House of Assembly (DSHA). It can be questioned if the development tallies with the aspirations of the Delta State voters who had chosen the PDP at successive polls since 1999, only to be confronted with the choice of a sudden change of political camp. In that context remains the question of how much of the electorate in Delta were consulted before this political move of tectonic proportions.

Beyond any other consideration lies the complement of challenges the scenario of rash defections pose to the enthronement of good governance in the country. The first challenge is the incongruity of the tendency of rash defections into the ruling party as it is not always for national interest but often to feather the nest of political agents who intend to ride to political ascendancy on the back of President Bola Tinubu.

The next challenge is the inherent contradiction of a one-party for Nigeria. Historically, the Nigerian federation comprises an assemblage of hundreds of hitherto autonomous ethnic nationalities who hold on to their unique identities tenaciously. It is for this reason that any effort at banding this country as one monolithic political entity has not only failed but has attracted deleterious consequences.

It is for the same reason that the framers of the current constitution adopted for the country a bicameral legislature at the centre, comprising the Senate to reflect the equality of the states and the House of Representatives to reflect the respective population sizes of the states.

Wanted therefore, is a new opposition front for the country for p