APC, PDP AND JEGA’S THIRD FORCE

The former chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega stirred the hornet’s nest with his statement on why Nigerians should reject both the APC and PDP in 2023 elections. Jega stated that the two parties have ruined the country in the last 20 years. He described them as Siamese twins and that under them, the country nosedived into anarchy with insecurity and poverty becoming the order of the day. The question begging for answer remains: Is Professor Jega who conducted the 2015 election which ushered in the Buhari administration the first person to call for their substitution? Certainly not. Ahead of 2019 general election former President Olusegun Obasanjo made a similar call. Obasanjo who in 2015 worked against his party and helped to install President Muhammadu Buhari of APC suddenly found his voice. Disturbed by what he described as the poor performance of APC in office, Obasanjo mulled the idea of floating a new political party as a third force and hoped to harvest membership from dissenting voices. Unfortunately, his third force which would have served as alternative to APC and PDP failed to see the light of day.

Since the return of democracy, Nigeria is yet to fully and maximally benefit from the dividends of democracy. While democracy literally means government of the people by the people and for the people, in Nigeria the reverse is the case. The system is being controlled and manipulated by powerful forces who decide who gets what and where. That is why our today’s political parties are not driven by any ideology. During the first and second republics, our politics was shaped by great personalities and what their different political parties could offer to the electorate. One remembers with nostalgia how NPC and NEPU became the darling of Nigerians in the first republic. Even the NPN, PRP and other political parties of the second republic were great, and built on good ideologies. With the restoration of democracy after decades of military government, many Nigerians thought that the new registered political parties would brighten the country’s political atmosphere with befitting manifestoes strictly adhered to and enforced. However, both the PDP and APC have failed the country as noticed by Jega and other political observers. Their failures to transform the country economically and politically have become the topic of discussion among Nigerians.

By advocating for the third force, is Attahiru Jega who joined PRP not cleverly inviting Nigerians to his party? PRP is the only surviving second republic political party. It was founded by the late radical politician, Malam Aminu Kano. For those who were opportune to witness the administrations both in Kano and Kaduna States under late Abubakar Rimi and late Balarabe Musa, they could testify to how they stuck to their party ideology. The party was founded for the emancipation of the talakawa from the anti-people policies of northern oligarchies. Furthermore, the fear being expressed by political pundits is that the proposed third force or whatever name you give it would end up like PDP and APC. Many political parties which serve as a leadership recruitment platforms, monitor government policies or oppose it have derailed from their manifestoes. Instead of calling for the third force, Nigerians should discard party politics and look for credible candidates. Let the electorate beam their searchlight and elect only people with impeccable character, irrespective of parties.

Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State