People have often accused APC of being unprepared for governance. The same can be said of the former ruling party, the PDP. The PDP never envisaged their electoral loss, a party that once boasted that it will rule for 50 years never made plans for the eventuality of a defeat in the election.
PDP’s delusion of grandeur and arrogance does not stem from its sterling performance in the 16 years it held power. As a party that has mastered how to win elections, the last election could have been easily written in their favor but for the goodness of the former President who placed Nigeria above his personal ambition.
Today, we do not only have a seemingly unprepared party as the party in power, we also have an unprepared opposition. As a party built on patronage, many PDP members have ditched the leaking umbrella to seek shelter and patronage with the ruling party. PDP’s plight is made worse by the intolerance of the ruling party and EFCC’s onslaught against her members who used their prime positions to feather their nests.
Some would opine that PDP deserves all that is happening to her as a payback for her many years of poor governance. The truth however is that the death of PDP will hurt our democracy. Our democracy needs a strong opposition and no party is better suited to provide a formidable check on the ruling party, than a party that has held power and understands its intricacies. As a party that understands the workings of government, the PDP is better positioned to critically analyze the policy of government and give informed criticisms when the need arises.
For PDP to avoid the impending decimation, it must look inwards and reform. For starters, PDP must show remorse for the atrocious way it mismanaged its opportunities while in government. PDP’s defeat did not just occur in the last election, only a delusional optimist would not have noticed the handwriting on the wall. Lack of internal party democracy, disregard for party constitution, poor performance of elected public officers, arrogance of elected officials especially governors and endemic corruption, were responsible for PDP’s descent from the Olympian height.
To survive and play its role as the main opposition, PDP must accept its new role and readjust to the realities that come with it. Nothing captures the need for an urgent shakeup in the PDP like the salacious revelations indicting key NWC members of fraud in the #Dasukigate. PDP does not need this kind of negative publicity at such a time when it is trying to recover from the shellacking it received at the polls. Those indicted should step aside for the sake of the party’s image.
PDP needs to revamp its image and to do that, she needs fresh faces unencumbered with questionable credentials. A party that parades cerebral minds like Frank Nweke Jnr, Nuhu Ribadu, Jimi Agbaje, Sen. Ben Murray Bruce, Akin Oshuntokun, Donald Duke et al, should not look too far to find the right people to reposition the party.
PDP can set standard on how oppositions should engage government by setting up a shadow cabinet to scrutinize government policies and offer better alternatives when they fall short of global best practices. Already, one would have expected the leading opposition party to have started benchmarking the promises of the APC against their bogus promises during campaign. PDP can turn the heat on Buhari’s government by publishing its achievements in the first months of the past dispensation and benchmarking it against that of the present government.
Going forward, a new identity, focus on the younger generation and a possible merger with smaller political parties, are options the PDP must explore. Being in opposition goes beyond issuing disjointed press releases and criticizing government at every slightest chance. The people’s democratic institute (PDI) should be activated as a think thank policy Engine room, churning out policy alternatives that will best that of the ruling party.
The PDP governors are the best chance PDP has for a comeback. Many Nigerians looked to Lagos for inspiration when APC was the opposition party. Fashola’s occasional interventions dubbed ‘my takeaways’, contrasts markedly with Fayose’s occasional outbursts and makes more sense too. The PDP will need its governors to put up a class act and give Nigerians something to yearn for if Nigerians are to give them another shot at the Presidency.
Democracy is weakened in the absence of strong opposition. Nigeria will be better served if the PDP stays alive than dead. I wish PDP all the best as it seeks to rise up from the rubbles of defeat.
Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates
