The country’s leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), recently held its elective convention which produced Prince Uche Secondus as national chairman, alongside other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC). Since losing power to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general election, the party has witnessed many crises which threatened its ability to play its role as an opposition force in the country.
The convention was a litmus test on the survivability of the tottering party shortly after emerging from protracted legal battles to determine the authenticity of its two warring factions. Although it was trailed by allegations of electoral infractions such as the imposition of candidates and the monetisation of the process, it eventually produced winners. The new chairman of the party has extended the olive branch to his co-contestants and urged them to work with him to move the party forward. In the same way, many of the co-contestants have congratulated the new chairman and pledged to work for the interest of the party.
We enjoin PDP to build on the success of this convention to become a truly strong opposition force in the country. Its ability to provide a vibrant and virile opposition will deepen our democracy and draw it closer towards maturity. In fact, any democracy that is worth the name needs a vibrant opposition to survive. This is glaring in advanced democracies such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The opposition party serves as a check on the ruling party to keep it on its toes at all times. It also serves as a ready alternative for the electorate if the party in power is found wanting.
We commend the PDP for the successful convention. Its leaders should reach out to all aggrieved members in the spirit of true reconciliation so that it can effectively play the opposition role. That is the only way the party can get its acts together and move our democracy forward.
Nigeria needs a truly virile opposition party. The bane of multi-party democracy in the country is the lack of a strong opposition party. For Nigeria’s democracy to grow and endure, it needs a credible opposition as a counterforce to the ruling party, to ensure that it remains focused on its responsibilities to the people. As an opposition party, the PDP cannot afford any division among its members. The way forward for the party is to present a united front to the government and the people.
Some of the allegations trailing the PDP convention are truly disheartening. They suggest that money still plays a big role in our politics while the so-called “unity list” indicates that winners of elections can be predetermined before ballot papers are distributed. This is a very unfortunate situation and we enjoin our politicians to eschew such antics and clean up our electoral process. Let the new Secondus-led team lead this charge to advance the credibility of our electoral process
For the party to effectively play its opposition role, it must weed itself of impunity, imposition and the money-bag syndrome which allegedly reared their ugly heads at the convention. Our politics should be made to outgrow electoral infractions such as vote-buying, imposition of candidates and other measures tailored towards the financial inducement of voters.
The PDP cannot play the opposition role effectively if it does not put its house in order. As part of measures to achieve this, it must do away with the old ways of doing things that have not profited our democracy and the country. It must abhor impunity and other acts that are antithetical to an enduring democratic culture.
There is no doubt that all the political parties in Nigeria are guilty of the monetisation of our political space. This is one problem which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders in the electoral system should address. Our laws in this regard should be strengthened and strictly enforced.
