Don’t take coalition seriously, we’ll win next year’s elections – PDP spokesman
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led National Coalition Movement has said that the return of the opposition People’s Democratic Party to power at the centre in 2019 is not feasible.
The PDP had an opportunity of consolidating itself in the South West, but the leaders botched it
The NCM argued that the PDP was not currently in a position to play the role of a viable opposition capable of making any appreciable impact in the 2019 general elections.
NCM Director of Media and Communication, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, said with the situation on ground, the PDP did not appear to be prepared enough or ready to upstage the ruling All Progressives Congress, which defeated it in the 2015 general elections.
Osuntokun, who spoke to our correspondent, noted that the main opposition party did not “really care to be a viable opposition.”
The recently formed NCM is believed to be working towards giving the electorate ‘’a credible alternative’’ or ‘’Third Force’’ to the APC and the main opposition PDP at the polls.
The coalition’s spokesman, however, allayed fears that voters might have no choice in the next elections, owing to the absence of a viable opposition party, adding that the current situation in the country required a viable political platform that could pull it out of the logjam it had found itself.
The former political adviser to the ex-president also expressed disappointment with the PDP over its choice of a national chairman from the South South geo political zone, instead of the South West, adding that the party would pay dearly for the choice.
Osuntokun, who noted that the choice was an indication that those managing the affairs of the party did not know what they were doing, maintained that the refusal of the party to cede its chairmanship to the South West would work against it in the 2019 elections.
He added, “The opposition party is always the ideal government because it would promise you what the government in power is not doing correctly. The party had an opportunity of consolidating itself in the South West, but the leaders botched it. As of the time they did that, APC was desperately unpopular in the South West. The party would have posed itself as an alternative. These are some of the things that baffle me. I was a political adviser to the President.
“That was more of a political strategist. So, I am speaking from that point of view. Forget whether I like the PDP or not; we need to look at the strategy in place to inform this kind of behaviour. It is an indication that those who are managing the party do not know what they are doing. Or they don’t really care if the PDP is viable. Maybe it is sufficient for them for the party to be in charge of the South East and South South.”
“So any opposition party is an ideal one, because it has not been tested. PDP has been scandalised, especially during President Jonathan’s government. Most of the scandals are their fault. The final nail on the coffin of the PDP was the mismanagement of the national convention. You call yourself a national party, yet you cannot handle an assignment properly. Especially in Nigeria, we are so much into the federal character.
Osutokun further said, “The higher you grow as a national party, the higher the chances of winning elections. That is why it is in the constitution – how power should be distributed to reflect the mandate of the party. The South West has not held the position of the national chairman. There is an assumption that the presidential candidate will come from the North and former president Jonathan came from the South South; the South East has held the position of the national chairmanship several times. The logic is so elementary that they should have known what to do. If you need to strengthen your competitive power, you need to strengthen yourself in all the zones. Rather than doing that, they deliberately weakened themselves in the South West zone. Even those who are not in PDP felt offended.”
In a swift reaction, the National Publicity Secretary, PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party’s chances in the 2019 elections would not be affected by the coalition’s outbursts against it.
Ologbondiyan told our correspondent that the party was already strategising against the 2019 polls, adding that the issues raised by the NCM had already been resolved by the party.
He, therefore, enjoined Nigerians to discountenance the claims by the coalition regarding the chances of the PDP in next year’s polls.
“The insinuation by Osuntokun has no weight and effect on the future of our party. Already, the issue of South West had already been resolved by the party leadership. We are confident that PDP will come back in 2019. We are repositioning and we are rebranding the party for good,” the PDP spokesman said.
