,
Since the defeat by the All Progressive Congress in last year’s general
election, members of the Peoples Democratic Party have been forced to an unfamiliar
position of being a party in opposition after sixteen years of calling the
shots at the federal level. Gradually but steadily, members of the party,
especially its leadership have come to accept that the years of dictating the
pace of activities in the country are over; at least in the next three years
when there would be another elections and the parties will seek the people’s
mandate again. Alimodu-SheriffAlimodu-Sheriff But rather than wallow in self
pity, the PDP appears to have be bracing up especially as euphoria that greeted
President Buhari’s victory is waning following the harsh conditions Nigerians
are now facing. First, after some months of seemingly rudderless leadership,
governors elected on the platform of the party came together and tossed the
former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ANPP, Ali Modu Sheriff to chair
the party and reposition it for the challenges ahead. However, the decision did
not sit down well with some organs of the party but a combination of deft
political moves and compromises has been able to provide some level of respite
as most members of the party now have come to accept, even if grudgingly that
the leadership of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff at this time was the most practical
thing to accept. And as if providence has conspired with fate to play a crude
joke on the All Progressive Congress led federal government, things appear to
be playing in Favour of the PDP in the last couple of months. The price of
crude oil in the international market has been on a downward spiral since the
APC took over. The exchange rate between Naira and most of the world’s
currencies has been the worst in recent years and the seemingly opaque economic
policies of the government have engendered hard times. Grudgingly but steadily,
many Nigerians are losing faith in the Buhari administration.
e inability of the Independent National Electoral
Commission to conduct any conclusive election under the present administration
has further added to the sense of frustration of many Nigerians. The recent
election in Rivers state which was characterized by unprecedented violence
further provided the PDP with the Arsenal to portray the APC led government as
being incapable or unwilling to bequeath a better legacy to the Nigerian
people. Conscious of the dwindling fortune of its electoral value as a result
of a combination of several of the above factors, the leadership of ruling
party has has resorted to several methods to shore up its waning acceptability.
From blaming the last administration for the multifarious woes of the country,
to cajoling Nigerians to show greater understanding with government, the APC
last week took to warming Nigerians there was no Vacancy in Aso Rock in 2019,
ostensibly to send a message to the rival PDP that it should not imagine that
the challenge being faced by government was not enough reason for the PDP to
begin to nurse an ambition of a possible comeback. But that was the message
that the National Vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Cairo
Ojuogboh needed to remind the APC that it was just but a temporary tenant in
Aso Rock Presidential Villa, as the seat of government traditionally belongs to
the PDP and it would take it back from the All Progressive Congress in 2019.
PRESIDENT BUHARI ATTENDS APC NEC MEETINGPRESIDENT BUHARI ATTENDS APC NEC
MEETING According to Dr Ojuogboh, not minding the mistakes that the PDP made in
the run up to the elections which deprived it of the mandate of Nigerians, both
the APC and President Buhari have demonstrated that they were not prepared to
rule because they had nothing to offer. According to the PDP chieftain, “We
want to caution that statements of impunity such as there is no vacancy in Aso
Rock in 2019 is not only fallacious but also should be completely discarded
because there is vacancy in Aso Rock in 2019 and the PDP will take back our
property in 2019. We are the owners of Aso Rock and we are going back there in
2019. I say so because it is very obvious that Buhari and APC are not prepared
to rule. They are wallowing in serious darkness trying to find its feet but we
in the PDP are ready and appealing to Nigerians that come 2019, they should
give us a second chance to correct our negligence that made us lose election in
2015. We are working assiduously to take over in 2019” he said. And to drive
home his point that the APC was not prepared to lead a complex country like
Nigeria, the PDP chieftain pointed to the recently conducted elections in
Rivers state, accusing the APC of introducing violence in order to cover up for
its lack of acceptability in the state.
He
said “ all Nigerians and the international community would have been surprised
if PDP had lost because Rivers is a PDP stronghold. 95% of Rivers people are
PDP. There was an attempt by the APC to arm twist the PDP and take away the
glory but the people stood firm for PDP. The issues are very simple and
straightforward in Rivers state. Governor Wike is on the ground. The leaders of
the franchise called APC in Rivers state wanted to prove to their masters in
Abuja that they could have an edge in Rivers state so they mobilized the
security agencies to intimidate the people. “It is the APC people that gave
military uniforms to their teeming folks to harass and intimidate the PDP. I
call on the independent National Electoral commission to complete the
announcement of results that have been collated at the polling units. The PDP
south-south is calling on INEC to release the results so that state house of
assembly members can get to work and continue to give dividends of democracy to
the people of Rivers state” he said. He noted that while the PDP has accepted
its fate as a party in opposition, it was ready to draw attention to anything
being done by the APC government that would shortchanged the Nigerian people.
“We accept our fate as party in opposition but opposition is an essential part
of democracy and any attempt to muzzle the opposition will not augur well for
democracy. While we are ready to contribute our quota to the development of
democracy, anything that we see as being capable of denying Nigerians their
rights and livelihood, we will oppose it” he noted. There is no doubt that
Nigerians were frustrated and disappointed by the seeming failure of sixteen
years of the PDP. But if the APC fail to provide workable solutions to the
problems created by the PDP rule, it may unwittingly be giving Nigerians
reasons to think that PDP deserves a second chance
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