Since its fall in 2015 from being the ruling party to becoming Nigeria’s main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party has been taking Nigerians on one of the biggest political roller coaster rides in the country’s history – the likes of which no one is allowed to get off from.
The PDP is enmeshed in an internal leadership crisis that has been rocking the party, and Nigerians are unapologetically hooked onto all the drama that is unfolding in the once “unbeatable” party.
And judging by what analysts have described as the PDP’s bleak political outlook, especially as it concerns the 2027 presidential election, the members of the party will be huffing and puffing by the time the current problems in the party become water under the bridge.
The PDP did not live up to the expectations of Nigerians in the 2023 general elections and the coming elections in 2027 will present the opportunity to rewrite history, but the party is currently not acting like it wants to call its own shots.
Some PDP governors have capitulated and already begun to beat a hasty retreat out of fear of being cut off from the All Progressives Congress-controlled Federal Government.
There have also been suspensions, counter-suspensions, defections, backstabbing, badmouthings and, with no end in sight, a general state of disorganization in the PDP, reputed in the past to be the biggest in Africa.
Analysts and stakeholders alike have therefore been suggesting how the crisis in the PDP can be contained.
GOD’S INTERVENTION OR MIRACLE
It was a former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, who said that the problems in the PDP could only be solved by God or a miracle.
Fasoye, who left office in 2006, noted that following the PDP’s loss in the 2023 presidential election, the arrogance of a few party chieftains contributed to the discord in the party.
He said, “The elections have come and gone. And because the party suffered a loss, I believe the consequences of that loss are haunting the party. The mismanagement and arrogance of a few are also haunting the party.
“And they say when the head is sick, the whole body is affected. So, it would take God’s intervention or a miracle for this party to be brought together again.”
Fayose also said the challenges in the PDP are enormous and that everyone in the party had to start reflecting because, according to him, if the members don’t put the past behind them, they will not have a future.
Some analysts have, however, stated that the pitfalls in the PDP do not necessarily need God’s intervention for them to be resolved.
According to those who spoke out on the issues, if a divine solution was really the missing piece of the puzzle in the PDP dilemma, there would have been peace by now in the party.
They, therefore, suggest that the solution to the problems is in the hands of the members of the party.
THE NIGERIAN ELECTORATE
After God, the next in line that can save the PDP is the Nigerian electorate, but doing so would depend on a couple of factors.
Political analysts have said that before Nigerians can bail the PDP out of its woes, members of the party themselves have to put their house in order first.
Since the general elections in 2023, the PDP house and reputation have been in turmoil and tatters, respectively.
And to the dismay of Nigerians, all the troubleshooting by the PDP’s National Working Committee, Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee to help keep the party on track have not mended all the broken egos in the party.
Another factor that could propel Nigerians to save the PDP is if the people are not pleased with the APC’s performance in office.
A political analyst, Kizito Opara, said the Tinubu administration now has “a limited time” to convince Nigerians of its effectiveness in office.
He said, “Nigerians want good governance and are yet to come to grips with the Tinubu administration for slapping subsidy removal on them on May 29, 2023.
“And in case anyone has been living under a rock, the economy took a hit because of that.
“Tinubu now has a little less than two years to prove to Nigerians that he is working for their good.
“He has a limited time to convince Nigerians to vote for him, and not doing that will see unexpected votes going to the PDP.”
SUSPENDING WIKE FROM PDP
A former vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, won the PDP primary prior to the 2023 presidential election and that did not sit well with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Wike established the G-5 – a group of five disenchanted PDP Governors who worked against Atiku’s presidential ambition – and they threw a spanner in the works by ensuring that Atiku didn’t win the election.
“The PDP did not live up to the expectations of Nigerians in the 2023 general elections and the coming elections in 2027 will present the opportunity to rewrite history, but the party is currently not acting like it wants to call its own shots”
Wike was accused of anti anti-party activities, but for some inexplicable reasons, the PDP has yet to suspend the former Rivers State Governor.
President Bola Tinubu saw the benefits Wike brings to the table and so he (Tinubu) called him up to ask him to be a minister in his cabinet.
Wike has been accused of having one foot in the APC and the other foot in the PDP, but does not give a hoot about the criticisms coming his way.
He has pledged, instead, to work against Atiku again should the latter become the flag bearer of the PDP in 2027.
Asked recently whether he was incensed because Atiku did not call him up to be his running mate in 2023, Wike said far from that.
Wike claimed that he wasn’t interested in being the running mate and has sworn to work for the 2027 re-election bid of President Tinubu.
ATIKU-OBI TICKET
Many stakeholders and political commentators have put forward a proposal for a probable joint ticket between political powerhouses Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Their permutation is that the ticket may be the only way the coalition that will be led by the PDP can find its footing in the murky waters that opposition parties in the country have entered into.
The stakeholders have also detailed that the PDP could go into oblivion if it fails to get it right this time around with the candidates it fields to challenge Tinubu and the APC in 2027.
And the Atiku-Obi ticket is the most attractive proposition for members of the PDP.
This is because in the 2023 presidential election, both men had contested separately under different party banners and their combined vote tally exceeded that which Tinubu got.
To snatch victory now, Atiku will try to accommodate Obi into the new coalition whose acceptability will be determined by Nigerians.
ATIKU DROPPING HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION
There are many in the PDP, including the members of the PDP Governors’ Forum, who believe that Atiku dropping his presidential ambition would save the party.
There are even some PDP folks who want Atiku to be suspended from the party.
Those who are disenchanted with the political juggernaut are frustrated that he has consistently been flying the party’s flag in presidential elections but has not tasted victory on behalf of the PDP.
Some notable bigwigs in the PDP, like a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Bode George, have said that Atiku bulldozing his way to becoming the party’s standard bearer is a recipe for failure.
George fears for the worst if Atiku’s name manages to be on the ballot paper once again.
He said, “If Atiku picks the PDP ticket that is the end of the party.
“If he picks it by manipulation, which was what was done the last time, we will not accept it.”
Atiku is, however, a vastly experienced politician. He knows he must have a plan B if he wants to see his presidential ambition come to fruition.
There were reports that he would dump the PDP and head to the African Democratic Alliance but he denied those reports, insisting that he will remain in the PDP.
What the powerhouse has not done, however, is deny his presidential ambition.