It doesn’t seem that the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party is without a leader. There are, but they are merely figureheads. The lack of a strong and determined leader has cost the party more than enough. It has lost its steam and ability to even fight to win elections. Who is the leader? Is it the former vice president Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, who has become a perpetual aspirant or Umar Damagum or his supposed paymaster Nyesom Wike?
The former vice president should be in the position to lead re party. He should be the politician giving direction, coordinating the affairs and boosting the morale of the party which lost its fortune in 2015. He should be the main source of inspiration to struggle for political power. However, he doesn’t seem to be interested in the success of the party except if it immediately concerns him.
The party lost the 2023 general elections partly because of the internal wrangling that is still unfortunately rocking the political party and shaking it to its foundation. The former vice president couldn’t deploy conflict resolution mechanisms to let all the aggrieved politicians sheathe their swords.
Since 2023 till now, there have been five off-season gubernatorial election. Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi, Ondo, Edo voters have all decided to select their governors . The PDP performed woefully in almost all the states except Bayelsa, where the incumbent Duoye Diri got his second term in office.
In Kogi State, the PDP came a distant third and its “funny” gubernatorial candidate Dino Melaye refused to go to his unit to vote for himself saying the election had been compromised. In Ondo State, the party couldn’t win just a local government area out of 18 in the state.
The party recorded just 20% in those elections. If the party had a true and committed leader, he would have sat down, analysed the issue and come up with solutions. But losing four out of five gubernatorial elections doesn’t seem to worry the former vice president or any other person in the party. It would rather put the blame on the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is doing all it could to redevelop the conduct of elections.
Is it Nyesom Wike, the former Rivers State governor? He doesn’t know that his activities are seriously endangering the political party. Picking up a post in opposition party’s government after working for the same opposition party amounts to anti-party activity. He considers himself a bulwark in the party, but he lacks what it takes to lead the party.
Wike has been at loggerheads with his successor Simi Fubara in Rivers State. 27 lawmakers have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP in a show of allegiance to their benefactor Wike. They have actually denied decamping and the court will determine the case.
It might be clear that the Peoples Democratic Party is without a leader, hence the woeful performance in the off season elections.
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