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Partisan politics does not sit well with me. I prefer to prevent pathetic pettiness in the pursuit of political power. Alas, politics is our way of life. Life itself is about the politics of ideas, survival, and development.
I am no stranger to Nigeria’s fourth republic. I played a part in opposing the dictatorship of Abacha. I believed that the worst democracy is better than the most benevolent dictatorship. Debatable! My principal position remains that Nigeria is not sustainable as-is: Dysfunctional components do not make a viable whole.
Early 1999, I met with ex-Governor Abubakar Rimi in Marriot Hotel by Newark International Airport, USA. He looked more handsome in person. He was expecting me. Ekwueme and Obasanjo were set to jostle in Jos. We hatched a strategy: announce him as VP to Ekwueme. It did not pan out. Obasanjo announced Atiku and won.
Rimi recounted the genesis of PDP, the People’s Democratic Party. The anti-Abacha group started small and morphed into G-18. The group enlarged to G-34, with former VP Alex Ekwueme leading strong statesmen to become the founding fathers of PDP on August 31, 1998: Tony Anenih, Jerry Gana, Solomon Lar, Abubakar Rimi, Bola Ige, Sule Lamido, Adamu Ciroma, Iyorchia Ayu, Bamanga Tukur, etc.
In the southeast, we knew PDP as the party of Ekwueme. It also triumphed in the BRACED states (Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Delta). The setup was dented when Peter Obi came in on the wings of Ikemba’s APGA. PDP lost Anambra and Imo. By 2015, Buhari-Tinubu APC amalgam dealt a devastating blow to PDP. Ten years later, the gust of grab and run is almost complete. We should not worry, as longer as the “dividends of democracy” are delivered and elections are free, right? Wrong!
The dividends of democracy, the enduring slogan of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, were damaged by internal dysfunctions and triggered by the lack of a focused and organized opposition.
PDP policy is flawed ab initio: “Power to the people.” If we are practicing a modicum of decent democracy, power must come from the people—not given by deluded dictators masquerading as democrats.
Whatever happens after brandishing brooms and flying flags in Enugu, the PDP umbrella must not fold in opposition. Party believers could bring back the spirit of Ekwueme and Ikemba into a reformed ADC-PDP platform.
Governor Peter Mbah’s scripted exit from PDP and the glitzy entry into APC mark the end of an era. PDP was bad in opposition; hence, it got itself a good grinding in the anvil of Nyesom Wike’s money power and Atiku’s ceaseless pursuit of power.
Bottom line, we need a policy-driven political movement to ponder and project policies that will secure and safeguard the Southeast while moving Nigeria to the next level. ADC-PDP can lead the movement to restructure Nigeria, one nation at a time. The space is open in the Southeast.
Kudos to Governor Peter Mbah and company. May history judge them kindly.
@OkaaMoe
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
