31st August, 2012
As 2015 draws near, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be fighting the battle of a lifetime as fear grips members over alleged failure writes EROMOSELE EBHOMELE
On 16 July, this year, the current political reality in Nigeria suddenly fell on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party which had been at the centre of Nigeria’s governance and as some would say, Nigeria’s misgovernance since 1999.
That was the day every resident of Edo State came out in jubilation. Their votes had counted, at least for the first time. The man after their heart and governor of the state on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had won massively in the election that was tensely contested between him and the PDP candidate for the governorship election in the state, General Charles Airhiavbere.
As the state erupted in wild celebration over the victory of their governor, many Nigerians seized the opportunity to begin fresh campaign and enlightenment against the PDP-led administration at the federal level. The goal of these new found and excited activists is that they no longer needed the PDP in all the states of the federation.
“This is a clear signal to the PDP that all is not well with the party and that they should brace for more surprises in 2015,” a journalist who witnessed the election said.
It was also disheartening to the PDP, the party which prides itself as the biggest in Africa with national spread, to realise that Tony Anenih, the man that always gave the party hope, and the party’s candidate in the election, Airhiavbere, lost in their wards. The shock was unbearable because the party had boasted in the past that it would continue to rule in the nest 60 years.
It was, therefore, not surprising when the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, who is mandated to speak on behalf of the party secretariat, gave a damning ruling last week amid continued attacks by Nigerians on the party over its perceived failure to lead the country to its “promise land.”
According to Metuh, the current situation surpasses the usual slapping of political office holders on the wrist even when they are considered huge failures. This time, election tickets would be given only to deserving and credible aspirants. In other words, political office holders seeking re-election, would be given a nod by the party based on what they are able to do with the previous ticket given to them by the party.
The implication of this statement, which was targeted at elected and prospective aspirants of the party in the three tiers of government, the federal, state and local government, is that party officials would definitely face difficult tasks to retain their seats in 2015 if they fail to perform well, since their re-election on the party’s platform would be anchored on credible performances.
The statement read: “Nigerians are asking their leaders to make personal sacrifices and self denials and the PDP now demands it. Our focus on the performance chart of our members in government is a crucial pedestal to achieving our pact with the people whose mandate we have.
“This opportunity of our 14th anniversary, therefore, is golden in restating the zero tolerance of the party for non-performance. It is ample opportunity for an in-house reckoning, self assessment, a mirror unto ourselves and in restatement of our determination not to let the people down.”
He warned further: “Our elected and appointed officials at all levels must, therefore, sleep and wake up thinking of how to make our dear nation better and our party, greater. Our performance must continue to go beyond the ordinary expectations of national indivisibility to surmounting critical development challenges which we must do to measure with the best in global community.”
Olisa Metuh told elected officials that have remained lukewarm in moving their states forward, those who have refused to evolve ways to develop their states and make meaningful impacts, as in the case of the legislators and those who have remained on the borders of average to immediately wake up to the reality that the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) was already re-awakening the party’s destiny.
He informed them that the pact which gave the PDP its mass appeal was leaving them behind. “The choice is to shape in or ship out.
“Service to our people must be the watchword; lifting their standard of living must be our pre-occupation. This is our responsibility to the nation; a debt of gratitude to Nigerians.
“Those who are the visible face of our party, those in whose hands lay the instruments of governance, the mandate given to our party must stand very tall in providing the much sought relief which good governance in democracy offers. We cannot afford to do less.
“The synergy of the arms and tiers of government, and most essentially the credible delivery capacity of different operatives of government businesses at the centre, states and the local governments are what make a successful whole.
“With the current national challenges, there is no doubt Nigerians are looking for role models and the PDP requires all its members in positions of authority to rise to the occasion.”
Even though the PDP is wont to deny that the tension it is currently embroiled in, analysts believe that the warning credited to its secretariat and the current lamentation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, provides an inkling into the apprehension with which the party now operates.
Obasanjo was recently quoted as saying that though he achieved his aim of contesting for the nation’s topmost position; he was saddened by the level of corruption in Aso Rock and perpetrated by his successors. He cited the depletion of the Excess Crude Account and the Foreign Reserve, which he said he left enough money “for the rainy days.”
The former President, who resigned as the party’s Board of Trustees chairman not long ago lamented that suddenly his successors told themselves that the rainy days have come and so dealt seriously with the Excess Crude Account and the Foreign Reserve.
Obasanjo also said he was able to clear the country’s debt before leaving office, but that his successors were unable to manage the situation thereby plunging the nation into more debt just within few years after he left office. This is all with nothing to show for the billions of naira that are mentioned daily by the government as money spent to better the lot of the people.
For example, the Abuja rail project embarked upon by the government is said to be just 20 per cent completed since 2004 when the PDP-led government made up its mind to embark on the project. Immediately President Goodluck Jonathan became the substantive President as a result of the Senate’s ‘doctrine of necessity,’ he announced through Facebook, the social internet site, that he was poised to fix the Lagos-Benin Road, because, according to him, he would be plying the road often.
Of course, Nigerians believed him as they showered him with commendations. Two years after, the road has remained a death-trap consuming several Nigerians both known and unknown. The President has never been reported to have used the road for once as he promised.
The Lagos-Ibadan Road may be counted as one of the worst roads in the country, yet it exists with daily heavy traffic because it serves as a link with many states in the western part of the country. The same problem is now very obvious in all sectors of the country with every citizen lamenting the current situation and the government’s further confusing itself and the citizens.
Abia State, governed by Theodore Orji, is now categorised as one of the worst states in the country. The governor is said to have “destroyed” the state and killed the morale of its residents. Crime has taken the place of good governance and the governor has not stopped lamenting.
Governor Orji recently attacked his cabinet members, calling them thieves and rogues and alleging that they were the reason behind his failure to provide the dividends of democracy to the people.
According to Orji, the cabinet members have stolen the state’s resources with careless abandon. He warned them that he would henceforth not tolerate such thievery, but it is believed that his threat is coming late because the administration is far into the journey to the end.
The situation got out of hand recently at a 52nd Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja where President Jonathan gave himself out while soliciting the sympathy of Nigerians. The President had, while lamenting the challenges his administration was facing, admitted that he was the most abused national leader ever, reminding Nigerians that he was innocent of their allegations.
He explained that he was not responsible for the country’s many problems, but promised to make the people smile in 2013 as it was the year the dividends of democracy would reach all the citizens.
Just like the unexpected reaction he got from the people who now seem to have withdrawn their trust for him, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) came out swiftly to remind the President that his statement was an admission of failure.
According to the ACN, through its spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, great leaders in the world like Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, JF Kennedy are remembered today more importantly for the quality of leadership they provided their various nations at moments of crisis.
“Even in the face of imminent defeat and paralysing casualties Winston Churchill was still able to inspire and rally his people to victory and faced with Cuban Missile crisis, President J. F. Kennedy did not throw up his hands in despondency,” the party added while wondering why President Jonathan decided to take up the mantle of leadership when he knew he was not capable to tackle the challenges that come with leadership.
“Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that the buck stops on his desk? Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that an administration inherits both the assets and liabilities of his predecessor in office? Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that his responsibilities as President include clearing the mess left by his predecessors in office while at the same time leaving his own legacies? Does President Jonathan expect sympathy from the citizens by this open admission of incompetence and resignation to failure?” the party asked.
The party said what Nigerians expected from their leader included uplifting words, words of inspiration that can bring out the hidden potential of its citizens, “words that will galvanise Nigerians to positive action and imbue them with self-esteem and not the kind of lamentations of President Jonathan that has served only to confirm that the ship of state has no helmsman and everyone is at peril.”
In another statement by the ACN, the major opposition party attributed the problems of the country to the PDP just as the former National Security Adviser, Owoye Azazi, had attributed the emergence of the Boko Haram on the PDP.
According to the ACN, “Mr. President, the reason Nigeria’s democracy has survived thus far is not the robustness of the PDP, as you have said, but the determination and courage of the good people of Nigeria, who have resolved to say ‘never again’ to anti-democratic forces, as well as the robust opposition mounted by a few progressive forces.
“Were it left for the PDP, this democracy as we know it would have become history. This is the party that has weakened all the institutions that are indispensable to building a virile democracy, from the judiciary to the legislature. This is the party that has sought to emasculate the opposition by infiltrating their ranks and coercing them into a fake unity government.”
In an article written some years ago by Dr. Reuben Abati before he took up the appointment as presidential spokesman, the PDP had earned itself a negative recognition among Nigerians.
He said: “The members are quick to proclaim that they belong to the largest political party in Africa, it is the cheapest claim that they can make. Nigeria having the seemingly eternal advantage of number, but in terms of effectiveness as a political party, the PDP as it is known in Nigerian circles and through a variety of acronyms…is a most irresponsible political party, its continuing success in Nigerian politics, a great oxymoron, but a veritable indication of the putative nature of Nigerian politics is marked as it is by insincerity, inequities and injustice.
“The PDP, in power in most parts of Nigeria and at the centre since 1999, when the country returned to military rule, is a most guilty offender.
“…What Nigeria has suffered from most tellingly since 1999, is the absence of an effective opposition to the ruling PDP, a party whose men and foot-soldiers have shown and demonstrated great contempt for Nigerians, as they are wont to place greater emphasis on the party’s slogan. This slogan is a hortatory shout of P-D-P! In higdecibels with an equally assertive responsorial counterpoise: PO-WE-R, uttered with a near-hysterical affirmation.
“In ten years, the PDP has done great damage to Nigeria and its people.” This impression has remained. This is why the party is struggling hard to change its colour like the proverbial leopard.