The pretence persists, does it not? That there is some real political opposition in the country today. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has so far been prancing all over the place, since it lost out in the power game about ten years ago, and loudly claiming to be “the main opposition party” in Nigeria. This situation of opposition by self-proclamation is yet to translate into any meaningful template that can pass muster as intelligent and organized political opposition in a 21st Century world. Ten years since it was ousted from the seat of power it, the party has been progressively strengthening its growing reputation as the Guardian of a Barren Territory and the custodian of a non-existent territory.

So, come, let us go back in time to what was said about the PDP on this page, on August 7, 2020, can be reaffirmed today. On that occasion it was said here: “There is a strong rumour in town, as I write. Propagators of this rumour believe themselves to be stating a fact of our general experience, when they make certain statements about the PDP. This “dangerous” rumour, which initially gained currency because the party came second in the elections, has to do with the claim, mostly by the party itself and some media reports, that the PDP is the major platform for opposition politics in Nigeria today. This is altogether absurd, if we are to take political opposition seriously”.

We say here, today, five years after the above submission, that we must make a distinction between a set of angry people, all of them convinced that a lot is wrong with the country, and an organized political opposition with demonstrated capacity for effective interventions in the political space. An opposition party must first keep its house in order, and this is something the PDP is not doing. A serious opposition party should also be in control of its own gates and determine the Rules of Engagement for all movements into and out of its premises. The party is remiss in that regard, and has been for a long time now.

Just look at the PDP today. Its governors are not doing much better than anyone else. Its party primaries, before and after it lost power at the centre, is slipshod at best; and riddled with the same malaises you find all over the national political landscape.  The party recently complained of being destabilized from outside by the APC and its agents, implying and proclaiming the world that it lacks internal cohesion and has limited capacity for serious political strategizing. It cannot sack, reign in, or manage Nwesom Wike. It also cannot now have a credible NEC meeting anymore, or issue a clear resolution on any issue; including whether it should meet or not. And its members are fleeing the fold in droves.

As was said in the aforementioned article: “To call the PDP an opposition party, or to tag it the “major” opposition party in Nigeria, is to take one “necessary” condition for real opposition party politics for a “sufficient” condition that qualifies a party for that appellation. Just as there are necessary and sufficient conditions for any creature to be called a python, or an eagle, there are also necessary and sufficient conditions for serious opposition politics. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, among others, met the necessary and sufficient conditions in this regard, because he had both an ideological distinctness and an engagement strategy that stood out in bold relief.

The PDP has none of the above. “It also does not seem to be working towards transmuting into an intelligent opposition that is working towards taking over power and offering better leadership. It is not a coherent and articulate opposition by any stretch of the imagination today”. That was the position of this column five years ago, that position is hereby reaffirmed without apologies.

An informed, organized, focused and articulate opposition is an essential component of the modern democratic enterprise. Such opposition is needed in order to keep any sitting government on its toes and to keep everyone focused on what could be done better; or at least what could be done differently. That is the right thing for any opposition party to do for us in the current democracy. But it is precisely what it is not doing, in my view that is.

Recall that the much-vaunted opposition leaders rallied and called on the National Assembly to oppose President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State about two months ago. They did not, to the best of my knowledge, have any quiet strategy sessions with their lawmakers or members of their parties across the nation before and after the media outing. Their elected members sat through the proceedings and made no objections and State of Emergency went unchallenged in the National Assembly.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar spoke on behalf of the opposition leaders at a press conference at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, saying: “We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately revoke this unconstitutional proclamation and reinstate the elected Governor, Deputy Governor, and State Assembly of Rivers State. We call on patriotic Senators and Representatives to vote against this illegal action when it comes before them for approval. The National Assembly must stand on the right side of history and not allow itself to be used to legitimise an unconstitutional power grab.”

Atiku also called on Nigerians to resist and urged the judiciary to strike out the President’s declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State. A press statement, and a press conference.

It was asked here five years ago, and is being asked here again: “Can we say in all good conscience that the PDP has a genuinely respected Council of Elders that can call anyone to order today?” I have my doubts. It was also said then that “There is too much bitterness and bad blood within the fold. There is a reprehensible fixation on hegemony building and on maintaining and driving the old “godfather” legacy that ruined the party”. That is why the current party leadership is laughable at best.

Speaking on behalf of several party leaders, including those of questionable political address and ideological coloration, Alhaji Atiku said during the aforementioned press conference of march: “We strongly condemn this development and call on all Nigerians of good conscience to resist this brazen assault on the constitution of our country and the institutions of our democracy. We call on patriotic Senators and Representatives to vote against this illegal action when it comes before them for approval”.

He was calling on “Nigerians of good conscience” right? The very Nigerians who are hungry, worsted and never part of any real political process or consultation within the PDP itself and all the other parties demanding to be taken seriously? They should rise up and “resist” the state of emergency? How? With what? This is laughable at best. So is the call “all civil society organisations, political groups to stand firm in the defence of this democracy that we have all toiled to build”. Is it really a democracy? Has it really been one in the genuine sense of the term since 1999? Just asking.

“The earthworm, for instance, is not a species of Anaconda, or a python”; we said here five years ago. “The fact that it is longish and crawls on its belly does not make it a python, or a Boa constrictor. True, it has no legs and generally wriggles like a snake as it moves. But it is still an earthworm. It is just like a butterfly daring to prance forward, to be numbered along with golden eagles just because it can wobble about in the garden’s gentle breeze under very benign weather. Nothing prevents the butterfly from making untrue claims. It its sympathisers try to propagate such falsehood that the consternation around them will quickly bring them to their senses”.

That, in my view, is the situation with the PDP today.

We noted here, back then that “the animosities arising from the 2015 PDP primaries held in Port Harcourt is still there, and is still simmering at the same unseemly temperature. It is one thing to say that someone’s hand was forced open and the candidacy of the party “snatched” from him in Port Harcourt. This is quite apart from the grievances of those from the South-west, who were dumbfounded by the arbitrary “reallocation” of the party chairmanship months earlier. Then you have Sule Lamido, Makarfi and others who felt scandalized by what they considered the “ingratitude” of a party that saw their steadfast loyalty as nothing. The fact that the best products of the primaries were political returnees rankled to no end with many. Even today, it still rankles and fuels all manner of subterfuge”.

In sum, and to reaffirm our subsisting perception of the post-Obasanjo PDP mentioned in the earlier-referenced article: “The PDP still cannot even “do expo” and copy somebody – anybody at all – in opposition politics. It ran a sleepwalking presidency that saw it out of power in 2015, because it stood by as if paralysed while it was branded locally and internationally as “not very strong in the war against corruption.” The stigma stuck. On top of that, poor internal democracy, among other problems, led to the exit of several governors. The inability to design a containment strategy in the face of a house crumbling upon itself was the last straw and the 2015 elections became the burial ceremony.

All things considered, and given the disturbing trajectory of national politics, especially the alleged opposition politics of parties like the PDP and Labour party, we conclude, as we did five years ago, “If opposition politics is about sound understanding of national needs, an engagement strategy designed to use that understanding to galvanize national consciousness around a clear ideological template and drive it by intelligent strategic communication, then we must politely tell the PDP to wake up. Folly is different from creativity”.