By Kezie Ogaziechi
NOT many in their wildest imagination would have tinkered with the idea that a once political behemoth called the Peoples Democratic Party would be on its knees so soon. The belief has always been that the biggest party in Africa enjoys so much goodwill, spread, structure and following that its resilience can be taken as given. That was precisely the greatest undoing of the party, as it frittered its goodwill by promoting mediocrity while sacrificing merit at all levels.
What the party had going for it at inception was that altruism of the founding fathers that allowed a level playing ground to determine the terms of engagement. It was clear to all then that the party was ready and willing to drive a democratic process that would define the pathway to strengthening the country’s nascent democracy.
After a long period of military governance and the false steps at bringing back civilian administration in the country, it was obvious that the character of political platforms that could guarantee a seamless transition that would see through an enduring democracy must be that founded on people’s power. PDP represented that and provided the needed pivot that could muster populist support to scare future military adventurists from truncating the country’s democracy.
The tides and turns in PDP that turned it away from the great democratic foundation the founding fathers envisioned and laid for the party was the manipulation of the convention that threw up a General Obasanjo ticket in Jos. One cannot forget in a hurry the hurt that convention wreaked on PDP and denied it the respect of democrats.
Were it not for the maturity of Chief Alex Ekwueme in accepting the outcome of the contraption that obviously questioned the democratic credentials of the party, it would have imploded. Ekwueme decided to be a good party man and assisted greatly in healing the wounds. Obasanjo, unfortunately, was not gracious in victory and went for the soul of the party, apparently to consolidate power and control. This marked the beginning of the fall of PDP.
Perhaps, the style of his emergence emboldened Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to engage in practices that turned the National Working Committee of the party into a toothless bulldog. He turned into a one-man riot squad and unilaterally defined the direction and pulse of the party.
Under Chief Obasanjo’s watch as the leader of the party (sitting President), the door of the national chairmanship of the party was shut against independent- minded and courageous candidates that would have provided quality leadership for PDP. The party was subordinated to the presidency and those who had the ears of the president took over the party. The incapacity of successive party leaderships to check such excesses ushered in the era of unguarded impunity that allowed the party to have a free fall that led to its present state. Internal democracy, which oils party cohesion and guarantees stability, took a flight and the party started floating and existing on borrowed time.
For sixteen years PDP controlled the Federal Government, the pretenders were sharing space with committed members of the party and because the culture of settlement in line with the entitlement mentality of politicians reigned, PDP was able to sustain an imaginary balance. When challenged by the reality of playing an opposition party having lost the 2015 general election, the strange bedfellow structure of the party membership was exposed and the centre could no longer hold. The disguised blessing in the whole development is that the pretenders are either retiring from politics or drifting to APC.
It is no surprise, therefore, that after many years of living a lie, the party has been offered a window of opportunity by fate and circumstances to get back to the basics and rebuild. What PDP is facing today must not be blamed on Makarfi or Sheriff.
The two leaders are mere “accidental political morticians” and victims of circumstances that events threw up to achieve a historical purpose. That purpose may not be realised, except caution and greater wisdom prevail.
PDP’s sorry state is self-inflicted and most of the people that set the party on this path of self-destruct are fast drifting to the ruling party. Some are on the fence waiting for where the pendulum would swing at the end of the day.
The biggest gladiators that destroyed the party are fast exiting, the political space, pretending to have retired from partisan politics (which approximates to announcing availability to serve where the bread is presently buttered). These developments should not come as a surprise to anyone because most of these characters were products of the manipulations of the political god fathers that killed internal democracy in PDP. They were not PDP at heart and could not value the prominence PDP gave them.
The bad news to these pessimists is that the PDP spirit is alive, looms large and towers above the individual members. The party is passing through a phase of self-sanitization that would lead to its turning point. The booby traps on the path to having a rebranded PDP are expected. Beyond the reconciliation drive of Governor Seriake Dickon committee, the party needs to take a break from its past. That past that promoted the culture of impunity and cult loyalty. That past that provided undeserved platform to charlatans that ended up urinating in the water they once drank.
No member of the PDP would pretend not to know that the party lost it the moment democratic practices took a flight in the process of elections to party leadership at all levels and picking candidates to fly the party’s flag in elections. Some National Working Committee members became lords of the manor in determining who picks the party’s tickets, individuals appropriated structures of the party with audacity and state governors became alternate power blocs within the party.Whereas PDP as a party was structured by the founding fathers as a party for all, the latter day managers of the party allowed cult culture to fester and cabals of all sorts held the party hostage. Party members were denied the opportunity of having a say in party affairs. The might took over.
All that an aspirant needed to secure party ticket was to have access to Aso Rock or a member of the National Working Committee of the party. The opinion of members of the party at the ward, local government or state levels matters less.
In the process, unpopular candidates were foisted on hapless members of the party and the consequence was obvious – rigging, anti-party activities, violence and all forms of electoral malpractices. If PDP must rebrand, especially now that APC has shown itself not to be the dependable alternative, the future leadership of PDP must emerge through transparent democratic process.
The powers of the party must reside in the organs of the party – National convention, National Executive Council, and National Working Committee as a collective, and not in some powerful individuals within the organs. The party must be supreme and every other member, no matter the position, should be subordinated to the authority of the party.
The constitution of the party must be sacrosanct and not subverted for whatever reason. The party must embrace the culture of reward system for committed members. Waivers should not be abused to ensure party discipline. Any returning member of the party or even new entrants must be willing to queue up, except in special circumstances which must be with full consultation.
The party should be run from the ward to the national level. Every party man, no matter the standing in the society, should have validation from the ward. Party members must be made to understand that their views and opinions count. The big umbrella that is the insignia of the party should be seen for what it represents – a shield to all members.
The new PDP must adhere strictly to the principles of openness and transparency and be willing at all times to run on the finest ideals of democracy and respect for the rights of individual members. Structures from the ward to the national levels should be for the party and not appropriated by individuals or ‘cult leaders’ within the party.
Whatever second life or recovery that awaits the Peoples Democratic Party can only be possible if the party can have the humility to accept its failings and the discipline to return power to the members.
Ogaziechi is a Public policy analyst.