Nigerian Political Party System

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s ruling party since 1999 is a centrist, non-ideological “rally” united by money and power rather than any shared vision, ideology or ideas. It is the political party that best approximates the character of the Nigerian state and bears its limitations and dysfunction-corrupt, sub-optimal, incompetent (except in matters of easy money, unmerited power and diabolical strategies!) and mediocre, and it presents a façade of unity while its most powerful components covertly pursue hegemony while simultaneously retaining a balance that keeps stakeholders within the fold rather than outside. The party’s centre of gravity, like the country is in its Northern half, so when nominal power resides outside, there is tension and instability. However it is also the most “national” (actually “unitary”) of our political platforms and has been most favoured by the Northern and Southern minorities who fear domination by their larger ethnic neighbours. The PDP to its credit has managed to minimize the role of religion in its politics and governance. The party was founded by relatively noble politicians and elder statesmen-Solomon Lar, Sunday Awoniyi, Alex Ekwueme, Adamu Ciroma, Bola Ige, Abubakar Rimi, Sule Lamido, Onyeabo Obi, Ayo Adebanjo, David Jemibewon, Olu Falae, etc but these elements were displaced by the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) elements (Abubakar Atiku, Tony Anenih, Lawal Kaita and Co) who were less-principled and willing to do the departing military’s bidding as the Generals (Abdulsalam Abubakar, Aliyu Gusau and IBB) sought to impose Obasanjo as its presidential candidate. The successful military infiltration and take-over through PDM proved fatal to PDP’s character and essence and foisted a political system devoid of high ideas on the nation! The combination of PDM’s mercenary politics and Obasanjo’s ( supported by a large cast of soldiers and policemen including Babangida, T. Y Danjuma, Ahmadu Ali, Tony Anenih, Aliyu Gusau, Abdullahi Abubakar, David Mark, Bode George) military authoritarianism has become the dominant strain in PDP’s DNA!!! The new All Progressives Congress (APC) is a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with additional elements from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). ACN evolved from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Action Congress (AC) in terms of membership and political character, even though AD technically remains a different, marginal political party. AD was a protest formation of the Yoruba Afenifere political establishment who saw themselves potentially marginalized within the omnibus PDP as old NPN elements in the group began to coalesce into a dominant faction. Bola Ige who harboured a presidential aspiration pulled Afenifere out of PDP, first into All Peoples Party (APP now ANPP) and then formed AD. The evolution through AD, AC and ACN reflected the internal power struggle within the movement as first the two “Bolas”-Bola Ige and Bola Tinubu, and later Tinubu as “Asiwaju” snatched power from the elders. I have always viewed ANPP as a Northern “insurance” against the PDP. It did seem that having adopted PDP as its preferred “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) for power transfer in the run up to 1999, the military and security overseers of the transition and the more atavistic elements up North felt an imperative to create a Northern fallback in case Obasanjo (the appointed caretaker CEO of the SPV) and PDP went astray! The APP duly became the party of the North winning nine northern states in 1999, and of Sharia as Sani Yerima in Zamfara and other ANPP governors led introduction of the Islamic legal system across the North, a process correctly described as “political Sharia” by Obasanjo. It was a strategy to use religion as a bulwark against the rampaging PDP as the 2003 elections approached. The ANPP reinforced its ethnic, regional and religious authenticity as Muhammed Buhari, ex-military leader and leading Sharia advocate regarded as religious and pious, became its leader and presidential candidate. It was inevitable however that Buhari and the ANPP Governors would fall out after his failed 2003 and 2007 campaigns, given their differing temperaments and dispositions. The fundamental character of CPC derived from its founder, Buhari who had projected himself as focused on Fulani, Northern and Islamic interests, but was more aligned with the mosques and streets, rather than palaces and financiers! Buhari and CPC were bound to be less flexible, more self-righteous and dogmatic and less politically pragmatic than their buccaneering cousins in the ANPP, traits that cost the party several states and legislative seats and Buhari his presidential aspirations once again in 2011. The inclusion in APC of factions of APGA and DPP around ex-Governor Chris Ngige and Senator Annie Okonkwo from the South-East and late Senator Pius Ewherido from Delta provide additional geographical leverage into the group. It is not certain what the merger of all these disparate elements into the APC would produce-the party could re-create a social democratic grouping with progressive credentials or less cheerfully a form of sectarian-populist fascism could emerge. Beyond analytical composition, the APC is likely to be more formidable electorally than its forbears and has a window of opportunity to position itself as qualitatively different from the PDP by focusing on policy and integrity, and putting its best foot forward. It is not evident that APC will do this, as it concentrates on attracting defectors from the PDP and risks pushing unviable options to the electorate. Labour Party and APGA govern Ondo and Anambra respectively and both are de facto allied with PDP. In other states, Labour provides a platform for itinerant politicians, including those whose record cannot be reconciled with labour interests, while APGA is essentially a “Biafran” grouping based on late Ojukwu’s goodwill. DPP and Accord are relevant only in Delta and Oyo respectively. I have spoken earlier of PDM as a faction within PDP led by Atiku and Anenih. The PDM recently registered by INEC is Atiku’s “briefcase” party waiting to be populated by defectors from PDP. PDM’s strength has never been grassroots politics, but rather out-manouvering other factions within a larger body (the old SDP and current PDP). The PDM’s other strengths have been finance and propaganda!!! The group eventually over-did itself and was smashed by Obasanjo as Atiku schemed to consign Obasanjo to a single term in office, illustrating its main weakness-believing its own propaganda! It is yet unclear if targeted PDP defectors will not opt eventually to stay in PDP or other parties and whether aspirations of potential defectors may not clash with Atiku’s. Nigeria is yet to attain a political party system, properly so called. Our political parties are based on personal aspirations and expediency, base considerations and primordial allegiances. Though ACN’s governance record supersedes others, no party has focused substantially on policy platforms and virtually all have weak organizational structures designed to maintain control by party leaders and governors. The glue holding them together is the lure of office, power and money and it is not evident that this is about to change!