PDP hits rock bottom

It is with a sense of déjà vu that one has been watching what has befallen the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in recent days. Events that came to a head last week lent credence to the view that, at last, the PDP has finally struck rock bottom. PDP has been away from Aso Rock since […]

It is with a sense of déjà vu that one has been watching what has befallen the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in recent days. Events that came to a head last week lent credence to the view that, at last, the PDP has finally struck rock bottom. PDP has been away from Aso Rock since 2015 and is now reduced to only two governors and a handful of members in the national assembly. A great pity, watchers of unfolding events of our 4th Republic would say.

For a party that produced three presidents in a row, held sway in 21 of the 36 government houses in 1999, raised the tally to 27 in 2007, and had ample majorities in the national and state assemblies, the paltry numbers it showed last week are indeed depressing. But that’s not even the grim part of the story. From what is taking place in the courts, where the party has been battling for its survival, the prognosis doesn’t look too good. The way things are now, the PDP might not be able to participate in the 2027 elections. In effect, this will finally put the nail in the coffin of the party.

As I wrote in a 2022 piece titled “Are we heading to a one-party state?”, many have seen this coming and have shouted themselves hoarse over it. In the same year, during the heated party primaries of the PDP, Bode George, the naval officer turned politician and PDP’s dependable strongman, while answering questions on the lamentable situation PDP had found itself in, said: ‘It looks like some kind of devil has entered our party’s midst.’ It was an apt description of the muddled affairs in the PDP.

At that time, it was Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who had lost in the party’s presidential primaries and failed to clinch the vice-presidential slot, who was determined to pull the house down. He became a gadfly of sorts, haranguing party members and executives on his way forward for the party. He threw tantrums, became churlish, and raised demand after demand that would have been unwholesome for the success of the party in the 2023 elections. The fact is that Governor Wike knew his worth to the party and his capacity to be a spoiler when the need arose. He had the necessary arsenal in his war chest, which, admittedly, was vast and intimidating.

He was a two-term governor of Rivers State, which arguably had the richest state treasury in the country and a voting power comparable to the highest voting states of Kano, Lagos, and Kaduna.  Wike has also been known to be generous to party faithful across the country over the years, giving support to many going for elections, in their hours of dire need. As a result, he has gathered a group of acolytes, including state governors, who are indebted to him. He was manifestly in control of the party structure in much of the entire southern states as well as in the north-central. The PDP was overconfident and snubbed Wike, to its decidedly perilous end.

He threw his support behind the rival candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The rest is, of course, now history. Realising the capacity of Governor Wike, President Tinubu decided to keep him even closer. When the names of his executive council members were released, there was no surprise that Wike, though still supposedly a chieftain of the rival PDP, was named FCT minister. It was a remarkable appointment as the FCT minister is widely considered primus inter pares among his peers, exercising the powers of both a governor and a minister. One would have expected Wike, now on this high pedestal in the Tinubu government, to resign and join the APC.

He didn’t, but opted conveniently to remain in the PDP, becoming the party’s proverbial kadangaren bakin tulu, the lizard stubbornly basking on the earthen pot. Throwing a stone at it would scare the lizard away, but it might also destroy the pot and spill its contents. Now the contents have been spilt, leaving the party in total disarray. Wike’s success seems total, helped, albeit, by further deepening schisms in the party. Indeed, one would agree with Bode George that “some kind of devil has entered the midst of the party”. Who would have thought, in 1999, or thereabout, that the behemoth that the party was would come to this sorry pass?

Like many others, I witnessed the party’s power from a ringside seat in the State House, where I was posted as a civil servant for over 10 years. We watched how confidently they came into government, shepherded by the indomitable Olusegun Obasanjo, a general and former military head of state, who led the party from success to success to dominate the political space. That is, until President Goodluck Jonathan threw a spanner in the works by seeking another term in 2015. This became the genesis of the party’s unravelling, a process Wike now seems to have completed.

Will the PDP rise again? That is a matter for conjecture. However, given the history of political parties that have bitten the dust in this country and never returned to their glory days, the forecast from my perspective is bleak.