The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- battered, broken and decimated, appears to be gearing up for resurrection. The party has, since the misadventure of 2023, gone comatose. It has, most strangely, failed to deal with the cankerworm of indiscipline within its fold. It got so bad that a political party of note could not confront one of its own whose level of anti-party activity remains unknown in Nigerian politics. The party has, on a number of occasions, tried to rise above these limitations but has consistently failed to find the tree for the woods. However, after the dark hours, the party appears to be getting set for a rebirth.
It would appear that President Bola Tinubu’s henchmen have got a hint of the possible regeneration of the once ruling party, and this is beginning to send shock waves down their spines. This has manifested in actions and reactions that border somewhat on the subconscious. From what we have before us, Tinubu’s lieutenants are worried about what the PDP does or does not do with itself. But why? Why are they telling the leadership of the opposition party what to do to avoid pitfalls in the 2027 presidential election? I had thought that, as Tinubu’s apologists who want him to secure his second term bid, they would allow PDP to self-destruct, if it must, so that it would not constitute a stumbling block to Tinubu’s overweening second term ambition. But here they are, telling an opposition party what to do to get strong and become a formidable challenger to the ruling party. This is strange, isn’t it? Something must be bothering these Tinubu men so much so that they are unwittingly committing a Freudian slip.
Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, are guilty of this unintentional error. Keyamo started it all when he was seen advising leaders of the PDP on why they should not field either Peter Obi or Goodluck Jonathan as presidential candidates in the 2027 presidential election. According to Keyamo, the candidacy of these men will not work for PDP. He wants the party to look elsewhere as it grapples with the tough choice of settling for who will fly its presidential flag in 2007.
Wike also spoke along the same line when he berated PDP for considering Obi as a possible presidential candidate. He said Obi will be a wrong choice as he had once spoken ill of PDP. But Wike’s expression of concern over PDP affairs goes beyond Obi. He is in the trenches with the party. He still sees himself as a member of the party even though he is working full-time for a rival political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since no disciplinary action has been taken against Wike for an action that clearly amounts to anti-party activity, the man is trying to decide for PDP the way to go in order to survive as a political party. He has rolled out for the party a list of dos and don’ts if it must hold its forthcoming national convention.
All this reinforces my earlier inquiry about the worries of Tinubu’s men concerning what the PDP does or does not do with itself. Why do they want PDP to get it right even when they want their APC to remain in power? The two standpoints are mutually exclusive. One cancels the other. Yet, Keyamo and Wike want to force a union between them. Their strange interjections are indicative of a certain psychological imbalance. The error they are committing is borne out of the interference of an unconscious subdued wish. They, in all seriousness, want Tinubu to return as president in 2027. But they are bothered that the main opposition PDP could upset the apple carte if it takes certain actions or steps. Keyamo and Wike, in their conscious selves, would not like this to happen. But they could not rein in their subconscious fears which have manifested through the Freudian slip that they committed. Put differently, Keyamo and Wike have betrayed their inner fears and worries about 2027 without knowing it.
However, regardless of what Keyamo and Wike have betrayed, the redemption of the PDP is not dependent on the presidential candidate it will choose or on its decision to zone the presidency to the south. It lies in its ability to be itself. Right now, the party does not know itself. It is carrying on with a papier-mâché image of itself. We are talking about a political party that is manipulated and controlled by forces that do not wish it well. Every move that the party makes ends up in court because some elements working the rival APC do not want it to breathe. Regrettably, rather than rise against its tormentors, the party is busy behaving like an overfed fly- inactive and spineless.
All this notwithstanding, the party’s National Convention scheduled for Ibadan this November offers it the best and, perhaps, last opportunity to reinvent itself. Whereas the true faces of the PDP led by Bala Mohammed and Seyi Makinde are fashioning out a framework that will work for the party, the naysayers led by Wike and his clan of three ex-governors are squinting from their closet. The Wike club says they belong to PDP. But they work for Tinubu’s APC. These are the people that want to decide for PDP what to do to be alive. Those who want PDP to resurrect must rise to the occasion. They have to ensure that they have a party that stands on its own without external manipulation. The party, if it must return to reckoning, must save itself from saboteur elements. Only then will it be an attractive platform for the contest of elections.
Even though the party is deeply interested in a Peter Obi or Goodluck Jonathan presidency, these gentlemen will hardly be persuaded to return to the party in its present shape. Obi, particularly, cannot with his two eyes open walk into a booby trap. As a frontline presidential candidate whose entry into any party will herald a new day and new possibilities, Obi cannot afford to risk his chances in a political party that is controlled by its enemies. That is why the coming national convention of the party matters. To make it work, the party has to be bold enough to take tough decisions. One such decision is to dislodge the moles who want it to continue to grovel on its belly. When that happens, Obi or any other presidential material of note will have a reason to see PDP as an option in the choice of political platform for electoral contest.
QUOTE:
“The coming national convention of the party matters. To make it work, the party has to be bold enough to take tough decisions. One such decision is to dislodge the moles who want it to continue to grovel on its belly.”
