Are opposition parties gasping for breath?

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BY ‘WALE SADEEQ

Without mincing words, the two main opposition parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) – have been embroiled in multi-faceted crises which are currently threatening their chances of bouncing back into relevance be- fore 2027 general elections.

While PDP, which ruled the country for 16 uninterrupted years after the return to democracy in 1999, has been battling for survival since its 2023 presidential primaries, things are also fast falling apart in LP and the centre does not seem to hold again.

Observers are of the belief that if the protracted crises rocking the two major opposition parties are not nipped in the bud, the 2027 presidential election may be a walk over for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), both at the state and national levels.

In recent time, the two political parties have suffered serious loss of some of their members to APC, with most of the defectors citing the protracted crises in those parties as reasons for their actions.

Of particular interest is the PDP whose rank appears to have been seriously decimated by the mass movement of its elected members, particularly those in the National Assembly, to APC.

From available records, no fewer than 300 members of PDP are said to have defected to APC in the last one year while it has become almost a daily occurrence in the last few days.

Perhaps the most striking in the gale of defections was the one in Delta which saw the governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor and PDP’s 2023 Vice-Presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, members of the National Assembly from the state and all the local government chairmen defecting to APC.

Aside the Delta mass defection, other PDP governors are also reported to be warming up to quit the party and team up with the ruling APC. For instance, the recent pronouncements by Gov. Umo Eno and his body language are indicative of the fact that he is only marking time in PDP on which platform he won the governorship election in 2023.

Also, a long-serving member of the House of Representatives, Oluwole Oke, recently announced his resignation from PDP, while all the PDP senators from Kebbi – Adamu Aliero, Yahaya Abdullahi and Garba Maidoki – have also joined the APC train.

However, Kola Ologbondiyan, a former PDP National Publicity Secretary, attributed the gale of defections of opposition leaders to APC what he called threats of a witch-hunt by the ruling party.

He said that the defectors were merely seeking refuge to avoid being hounded by APC.

“You must not forget that the former National Chairman of APC once told Nigerians that just come over here, we will forgive all your sins; so, people are looking for where sins are forgiven,” Ologbodiyan said.

He maintained that no matter how many opposition leaders the ruling party managed to attract, APC would still have to contend with millions of Nigerians in its bid to retain power in 2027.

Piqued by the development, a former Governor of Benue, Sen. Gabriel Suswam, warned that PDP could collapse before the 2027 elections if the party’s leaders did not take serious steps to fix its myriads of problems.

Suswam, who described condition of the party hitherto recognised for its vibrancy, as critical, said that many members had lost hope and believed it might not survive.

Even though watchers of the development within the party have described the crucial meeting held on May 11 in Abuja by PDP governors, former governors and members of the National Working Committee as a major step towards fixing the party, the meeting, however, ended without the internal disputes resolved.

The contentious issues, according to sources, include the continued tenure of Umar Damagum as the acting national chairman of the party, the disputed national secretary position between Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye as well as the wave of defections which has hit the party.

Sources say the party leadership is upbeat on the resolution of the matters before the NEC meeting scheduled for May 27 and the national convention fixed for August.

However, the insistence of some interest groups, particularly those loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, that Anyanwu be allowed to complete his tenure in December, may mar the amicable resolution of the issues.

Another issue is the zoning of the presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 election; indeed, Wike has challenged the party to openly declare which zone would produce the presidential candidate in 2027.