10 great mistakes PDP made in 16 years that APC should avoid

– The political ship of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was sunk by the party itself

– There were at least 10 great mistakes committed by the PDP that stopped the party from ruling Nigeria beyond 2015

– The continuous existence of the party is threatened daily as there are rife allegations that a new political party may spring out from the new national opposition party

According to a one-time PDP National Chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, he said the PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years. However, the situation on ground is totally different. The party has been licking its wounds since it lost out the centre to the young All Progressives Congress (APC) at the general election in 2015.

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Since the PDP received the heavy blow of defeat last year, the house of the new opposition party  has been rendered asunder due to the different infighting by its members.

Would anyone have thought that the All Progressives Party (APC) which was less than two years at the time of the presidential election on March 28, 2015 would be calling the shots as far as the political terrain of Nigeria is concerned now?

There were a good number of political analysts who said the APC will die a natural death after the election. Some bootlickers under the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration ran different propaganda-infested advertorials to stem the surging tide of the APC, which all did not work. One of such persons was Dr Doyin Okupe, the senior special assistant to Dr Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs. He categorically stated that the APC’s burning fire would be extinguished in little or not time. He probably would have ate his words afterwards.

Some of the big mistakes committed by the PDP should also not be made by the APC in order for the electorates not to send the APC parking in 2019 as they did for the PDP in 2015.

 1. Absence of internal democracy

The major bane of the PDP while it controlled the central government was that the party was not fair to all its members. There were some dedicated and committed members who bought tickets in order to vie for elective positions, but were denied because they had no godfathers to back them up. This was the major reason that led to the mass defection of some aggrieved members to the APC. The result was glaring as the PDP fell apart.

2. Promoting impunity and corruption

When the PDP was elected to rule Nigeria after the return of democracy in 1999, a good number of Nigerians had high expectations. They believe the president then, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo would take them to the promised land based on his previous experience as a military Head of State. However, Obasanjo disappointed Nigerians. He came up with policies that made corruption to be entrenched among politicians and Nigerians alike. He wanted to perpetuate himself in power by coming up with the third term agenda. It was alleged that he tried bribing National Assembly members with huge sums of money totaling into billions of naira.

There were other cases of corruption the Siemens, Halliburton saga and the rest that the perpetrators were let off the hook without any tangible prosecution during his government.

When Obasanjo left, corruption began to flourish in leaps and bounds that Nigerians and Nigeria were known for corrupt practices almost everywhere in the world. The different revelations of corrupt cases President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to unravel are proofs of these, among which is the $2.1billion Dasukigate under the last administration.

In addition, it was during the PDP years that Nigeria had four different Senate presidents in a space of four years.

3. Disregard for the rule of law

There are numerous examples of how the PDP flouted court orders with impunity. There was a time the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Lagos state government regarding distribution of federal allocations. Then the PDP called the shots. It refused to release the money to Lagos state and nothing was done.

4. Jettisoning party leaders and party decisions

The APC may blame itself if members are not totally loyal to the dictates of the party leaders and follow all decisions laid down. The images of what happened when the Senate president was to be chosen after the APC assumed power on Friday, May 29, 2015 are still fresh in the memories of Nigerians.

The party decided on a particular candidate, but some party members went behind and colluded with the PDP to elect an entirely different candidate. This was a common practice while the PDP was the ruling party between 1999 and 2015.

5. Belittling the founding fathers

Founding fathers of the PDP like Chief Alex Ekwueme counted for nothing when the PDP was clearing other political parties off the way. Sometime before the last general election, Chief Ekwueme complained bitterly that his advice was never sought in the running of the PDP. There were other old members who complained of a similar thing.

Another example was when Chief Obasanjo bared his mind through the letter he wrote to the former president. He was not given any listening ears. Chief Obasanjo got so annoyed that he ordered someone to tear his PDP membership card. The end result was the ousting of the PDP from the central government after the 2015 general polls.

6. Monetisation of political positions

There has not been any political party in the history of politics in Nigeria that gave preference to money over equity and justice as the PDP did while it ruled. It was not easy for an aspiring PDP member to pick the party’s ticket not to even talk of contesting election. This was because the money charged to purchase express of interest form is in millions not to talk of the actual candidacy form. This was why the primary ticket of the party went to the highest bidder. The money spent also included the ones used in bribing the political godfathers in order for them to anoint such a candidate.

7. Appointing square pegs in round holes

Currently, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has been crying on the top of his voice regarding the selection of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the PDP. He said it was a wrong choice as he is not comfortable with his appointment. There are other chieftains of the party who said Modu Sheriff is a square peg in a round hole.

8. PDP-produced presidents were overlords

There was a time some public affairs analysts opined that Nigerian presidents were the most powerful in the world because they use their executive power the way they like. While Obasanjo was the president, he masterminded the change of leadership of the PDP at will. He arm-twisted the leadership of the National Assembly to his biddings even if his desires were against the national interest. Likewise during Jonathan’s presidency, he played his own role when he suspended the one-time Central Bank of Nigeria’s governor and the present Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over the latter’s statement that the NNPC did not remit some amount of money into the CBN’s account.

9. Nigerian citizens counted for nothing

Another reason the PDP fell like a pack of cards at the last year election was because Nigerian masses were seen as nothing. There was little or no regard for the opinion of the citizens on how the PDP governed the nation. This habit infuriated Nigerians as they were tired of the party’s high-handedness after 16 years of hunger, unemployment, epileptic power supply and other national problems. Therefore, when it was time for elections, there was no going back as the electorates voted out the PDP from power.

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of the APC has joined the bandwagon of those playing the blame game of misgovernance the PDP brought on Nigerians. One thing he should be conscious of is that people are tired of excuses. All what Nigerians know is that they voted in the APC so that it could repair all that was damaged by the PDP and give Nigerians comfortability.

10. Do or die politics advocacy

Nigerians were shocked when Chief Obasanjo said it is do or die politics or nothing when he was about handing over power to his successor prior to the 2007 presidential election. Statements of this nature are used by political vultures to feast on other political opponents which later leads to assassinations and killings. There are so many politicians who have fallen to the bullets of assailants just because they showed interest for an elective position. This was the order of the day during the dark days of the PDP.

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