WANTED: CREDIBLE POLITICAL PARTIES!

The opposition should get their act together

The desire of Nigerians for virile opposition political parties that can articulate alternative policies and offer constructive challenge to the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is fast becoming a mirage. In recent weeks, there has been a gale of defections from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). From their presidential running mate in the 2023 general election, to a governor and the entire party structure in his state, to several National Assembly members, the movement from the PDP to the APC is surging. Unfortunately, the situation is not better in the fringe parties where members are also breaking camp and heading for the APC. All this bodes ill for our democracy.

Ordinarily, opposition parties are expected to offer alternatives to the ruling party and in the process, enhance transparency and accountability in governance. By playing their role effectively, they help to put the people in power on their toes. But the opposition parties in Nigeria are not only weak and uncoordinated, many of their leaders also seem highly compromised. Today, the PDP that held power for 16 years between 1999 and 2015 is in disarray, torn apart by self-inflicted crisis arising either from the inordinate ambition of some top members or the virtual overthrow of its constitution by a succession of self-serving members of its National Working Committees (NWC). To worsen matters, the national leadership has for the past two years been enmeshed in a crisis that is not about the interest of the people but rather about cold calculations on who gets what ticket for the 2027 general election.

In a dysfunctional political system being exploited by the party in power, the real losers are the people of Nigeria.  Beyond occasional soundbites and empty slogans, there is nothing to differentiate between the existing political parties and that explains why members criss-cross from one to the other. Yet, the ability of the opposition to challenge the policies and programmes of the incumbent government is integral to representative democracy. 

 The case of the PDP is quite pathetic. Before it lost power in 2015, the party controlled more than 60 per cent of the National Assembly membership as well as no fewer than 23 of the 36 states of the federation. Today, it has lost its way.

As for the other parties, they are either internally polarised or fragmented, leaving Nigerians practically at the mercy of the APC in what is tending towards a one-party arrangement. The Labour Party (LP) which controls one state (Abia) and whose presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, won in 12 states finds it difficult to extricate itself from a crisis of ownership that makes the platform incapable of playing any credible role in the polity. The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) which controls Kano State is essentially a one-man show. Even the ruling APC is only coherent in appearance and mostly because it is in power and has patronage to dispense. Not that its promoters share any ideals about how to change the fortunes of Nigerians.

The real danger in the absence of credible political parties is democracy anchored on the rule of law and popular participation. To date, the concept of a political party among our politicians remains that of a badge or acronym for contesting elections. In real terms, these political parties have no belief content and are only equal to the superficiality of their principal members. It is difficult to even speak of viable opposition parties when no one knows what the ruling party stands for since you cannot posit nothing as an alternative to nothing.

Overall, we need a new democratic culture where value is placed on high standards by leaders with issue-based political parties that can articulate clear ideologies and road maps with which to envision the country. In essence, while we worry over the disarray within and between our opposition parties, what requires serious homework is the meaning, content and substance of political parties in Nigeria.