PDP’s convention and opposition politics

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) successfully conducted its National Convention last week in Abuja.

The convention caught the admiration of many Nigerians. It was rancour-free and produced Prince Uche Secondus as the national chairman of the party.

In the last two years, the party has been enmeshed in leadership crises and legal battles which took it to Supreme Court.

The party heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the erstwhile Ahmed Makarfi faction of the party and against the Ali Modu- Sheriff faction.

Since then, the party was being run in acting capacity, until last week when it conducted its National Convention.

The PDP convention signified three things. One, the insinuation that the party has collapsed and cannot find its feet has been laid to rest.

Secondly, with the hitch-free and credible convention, the party seems to have learnt lessons from past experience where imposition of candidates was the order of the day.

Thirdly, with the emergence of a new leadership, the party should put its house in order and get set for opposition politics.

Many will agree with me that since the defeat of the party in the 2015 general election, it has gone into hiding.

This was not unconnected with the corruption charges against some of its members and leadership tussle.

In an ideal democratic setting, the role of the opposition party(ies) cannot be overemphasised.

The opposition parties checkmate the excesses of the ruling party and serve as alternative platforms in case the ruling party fails the electorate.

In Nigeria, the opposition parties have become  toothless bulldogs. They only appear during elections and disappear immediately after they have achieved their objectives.

The PDP  is a force to reckon with. The party still controls some states and has members in the National assembly.

With the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the party, with many aggrieved members in the ruling APC likely to join him, the PDP may wax stronger.

While the party is applauded for its transparent convention, it should maintain the momentum in future primaries.

It has also become imperative for the party to play its opposition politics in view of some policies flip-flop of the present administration.

Ibrahim Mustapha

Pambegua, Kaduna State.