PDP: Beyond acting chairman Damagun’s exit

Come Tuesday April 18 2024 the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s leading opposition party will meet to decide its future. The dispensation is of significant interest not only to the members of the party, but perhaps even more so to the rest of Nigerians as the PDP remains the country’s principal opposition party, and therefore is expected to address itself to curbing the excesses of the present administration by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Even so, whether ranking it enjoys or suffers in that respect, delivered is a matter of divided opinion among Nigerians. The foregoing notwithstanding, the forthcoming Tuesday meeting of its NEC offers it an opportunity for taking stock of its mandate and enterprise so far.

Among stakeholders who nurse misgivings over the party’s fortunes so far are those who finger the acting Chairman Iliya Damagun, as the problem in the party given a legion of ‘sins’ attributed to him, and are therefore calling for his resignation. Yet whatever misgivings they may nurse against Damagun do not diminish the fact that he was brought in as just as a place holderalbeit in an acting capacity, following the suspension of substantive party chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu, in the in-house storm that trailed the 2023 PDP Presidential primaries. It is easily recalled that the storm pitched one of the losers - Nyesom Wike against the Ayu and by extension much of the party’s structure. With the likelihood that Damagun may leave office from that coming NEC meeting, the task before the party now is more of restoring lost ground than anything else, with the principal mission being to serve creditably as the leading opposition to the government of the day.

Seen in proper context, it does not require the attribute of clairvoyance to see that Nigeria is running an impaired democratic dispensation, where the missing element is that of a credible opposition. In the absence of a credible opposition the country’s democracy stands on just one leg, and in a state of imbalance, with several threats hanging like the sword of Damocles on its neck. And this is where the relevance of the PDP as an opposition party is expected to manifest or otherwise. It is also in this direction that a post Damagun leadership should be focusing as it launches out to prepare the party for regaining power anytime in the future.

In considering the way forward by the post Damagun PDP, it needs to be recalled that the party still remains a force to be reckoned with in reference to its past glory as well as its present capacity. Presently the

PDP has 36 of the 109 seats in the Senate, as it trails the APC which has 59. In the House of Representatives the PDP has 102 of the 360 seats as it trails the APC which has 162. Although the present state of affairs remains a far cry from its past dominance, the discrepancy also defines the scope of work the post Damagun leadership needs to address, as it plots returning the PDP to winning ways.

Going by the expectations of a wide swathe of Nigerians, the new leadership of the PDP may need to soft pedal on claiming the pound of flesh from recalcitrant members who had worked against the party in the past, at least for the immediate future. The challenge now is fence mending and house cleaning just to return party to critical take-off status. Hence the need for soft pedaling in order to provide soft landing by any returning ex-member.

However the party should also be disposed to ensure that its past indulgence in glaring breaches of its constitution are checked in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past. As a party that is now to lead the opposition, it needs to stand above reproach in its enterprise, in order to enjoy the credibility of a trusted ally of the electorate. The returning PDP should be the champion of the dissenting voices in the public space. In that context the recent instance of dissent by Senator Abdul Ningi who represents Bauchi Central Senatorial Constituency in the Nigerian Senate and for which he was suspended should have been championed by the PDP. Just as well is the instance of some PDP members of the House of Representatives kicking against the insidious motive of the APC in tampering with the tenures of Local Government Council Chairmen in PDP dominated Rivers State, qualify as a well-intentioned response by the party.

It is not lost on Nigerians that during

Going by the expectations of a wide swathe of Nigerians, the new leadership of the PDP may need to soft pedal on claiming the pound of flesh from recalcitrant members who had worked against the party in the past, at least for the immediate future.

the hiatus of comatose existence of the PDP, several of its members had traded off loyalty to it for juicy political favours and had been acting as moles and wormwoods whereby they remain programmed to destroy it from the inside. It is all part and parcel of the power game when scruples matter little.

However, it is also for such circumstances that the PDP needs to get its act together, and this as soon as possible. For until the party gets its act together and plays its constitutional role of providing credible opposition, so long shall the country remain in the shadow of, or actual grip of manifest despotic tendencies from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).