Mega party: The realities, uncertainties

As the public discourse on the ongoing consultations among some politicians to forge a fresh alliance, KUNLE ODEREMI captures some undercurrents.

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) was a practical child of circumstance. An implosion in the then governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the veritable catalyst for the process that culminated in the birth of the mega party at the dawn of 2014. Ironically, the APC is currently suffocating from a mesh of contradictions manifesting in high-wired intrigues, occasional altercations and verbal assaults among a number of its main gladiators. Developments in the PDP are no least cheering as the two distinct claimants to the soul of the party have ceaseless held it by the jugular and failed to blink on the necessity for compromise. Thus, many PDP faithful believe the fate of the party lies in the hands of the courts, thus the cloud of uncertainty about its future, in spite of assurances from some quarters within the PDP.

The frenzied moves by some political actors with varying political affiliations in the past few months have revealed the apparent dilemma among a lot of PDP faithful. While some of the leaders tried to seek ways of reconciliation within the top hierarchy of the party, the following were slit on which way to go, with some of their leaders forging a fresh alliance with politicians of like-mind on the possibility of forming a mega party.  The fresh alignment resulted in the evolution of the Action Democratic (ADP) in November 2016 with a former member of the National Assembly, Senator JKN Waku as the chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT). The convener of the North-Central Unity Bridge (NCUB), Mr Yagbagi Sani said the party was designed to be a third force in the 2019 elections in the country.

The supposed mega party appears not strong enough to incapacitate or threaten the PDP and APC. In fact, the consensus among many is that it lacks the capacity and reach to give the other two any serious challenge, given its membership composition, pedigree of the leadership and root. The forces behind the envisaged real mega party have remained unrelenting about their pet project. A few names, whose spheres of influence in the political circles are intimidating and awesome said to buy the idea, have further spread their antenna across the geopolitical zones, either directly or through proxies in the past few weeks. This aside from the fact that they, some of who are regarded as embattled or aggrieved leaders of either the APC or PDP, often use the opportunities of controversial national issues to score political points, especially against the establishment. But a cursory look at the coalitions that started the project of a ‘genuine’ brand new mega party indicate growing schism among the leaders from APC and PDP that formed the fulcrum of the movement. Quite a number of them have either made a tactical withdrawal or joined their political soul mates that maintained a wait-and-see attitude about the unfolding events and theatrics. For instance, the rapprochement reached by the critical stakeholders of the APC in the South-West at a meeting held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, has necessitated a rethink among some of them touted as the main backers of the movement for the mega party. They weighed the tough and complex challenges of collaborating with other forces of the possibility of forming such party and concluded that it was in their best interest to ‘fight’ within the APC to get what they desire and want.  Another factor said to have swayed the leaders was what they perceived as the possibility of the establishment lending support to strengthen the South-East through patronage that could culminate in the South-East supplanting the South-West in the buildup to the 2019 elections.

So far, such names as former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar, former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and former governor of Kano State, Musa Kwankwanso are among the political juggernauts that the promoters of a new mega party hope could facilitate the project. While Tinubu says he is committed to a party with progressive ideas and ideals, the loyalists of Atiku and Kwankwanso have been unrepentant in promoting the individual agenda of their principals. The associates and supporters of Atiku have been most visible in different zones of the country propagating his cause preparatory to the 2019 elections.

Similarly, forces that favour the founding of another broad-based political party from the Southern party of the country have been resolute in their desire. Beyond the plan by a coalition of professionals to hold a national summit in February to chart a new direction for the political class is the setting up of constitution committees by the various interests to work out the necessary structural framework for the proposed mega party. One of the coalitions has commenced consultations with political leaders across party lines that will eventually lead to a major gathering to harmonise the draft constitutions of the various groups involved in the quest to forge a grand political alliance.

Be that as it may, the hastiness, haziness and near uncertainties in the camps of the promoters of a new formidable party still stare many of the leaders in the leading political parties in the face. Some have come up with the option of adopting any of the existing registered parties by the proponents of the mega party. This, according to them, will be most cost-effective, since the leaders and their following will only need to firm up the existent structures of such party across the country. The option appears pooh-poohed by the declaration of the PDP leadership that the party was not ready to jettison its identity and name in whatever circumstance. At the colloquium, held in Ibadan last week, organised by the Yoruba Patriots Movement (YPM), the national coordinator, Honourable Oladosu Oladipo and the interim chairman, Dr Kola Balogun, said it was a political association ostensibly in reference to assumptions in certain quarters to the contrary. It is the intention of the founders to make sure that the YPM becomes such a formidable movement that cannot be ignored by any power bloc elsewhere seeking alliance to forge the expected mega party or with intention to enhance the strength, capacity and formidability of the existing parties in the land.

Already, another former member of the National assembly, Senator Muhammed Saidu Dansadu, has reinforced the possibility of a strong and major political party before 2019. In his view, “The crux of the problem we are having in Nigeria is that [a] majority of the people at the helm of affairs don’t care about the welfare of the ordinary citizens. All they are after is paraphernalia of the office they occupy. The money that comes their way through the office which they use to travel abroad every now and then. But as long as their primary responsibility is concerned, which is security of life and property, they find it difficult to do their work of empowering the people to become productive.” Accordingly, he emphatically said: “We are going to form a new political party. PDP,” adding: “In 2019, there will be a new lease of life in Nigerian politics. People, who love Nigeria, will come into the system. We will do away with the politics of moneybags and bring God-fearing leaders and honest people into the system.”