2015 Elections And Lessons For Apc
For sixteen years, the People’s Democratic Party denominated the political space like a colossus. Being the ruling party in Africa’s most populous country, its stalwarts wasted no time in trumpeting it to the ears of everyone that PDP was the biggest party in Africa.
But on March 28, the story of the PDP changed. The party was humbled by the APC. And that marked the end of its 16 years of dominance of the centre.
It will be recalled that former PDP Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, had once boasted that his party would rule for 60 years! Truly, when you have unfettered access to cash, and the security agencies at your back and call, you are easily tempted to believe you have power till thy kingdom come. But the results of the 2015 elections have betrayed Ogbulafor’s braggadocia.
To borrow a popular religious lingo, power has changed hands. The PDP got a bloodied nose. And the party is not going to be the same again for a very long time. To make matters worse, no sooner had the PDP lost than its members defected to the APC in droves – a reflection of the politics of the stomach that pervades the political space in this clime. So, how did the biggest party in Africa fall?
Ever since the PDP lost the presidential election and some key states, accusations and counter-associations have been flying around from allegations of mismanagement of party funds to betrayal of trust to reckless statements that made the PDP candidate a hard sell to the northern voting population, accusing fingers keep pointing in all directions.
While one cannot dismiss these allegations with a wave of the hand. It’s also important to note that the journey to the defeat of the PDP didn’t start during campaigns
In the public presentation of a book titled “Dynamics of change: The Amaechi Years” in Lagos, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and APC Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu traced PDP’s fall to NGF Crisis in 2013. Hear what Tinubu had to say: “Governor Amaechi and most of the governors thought of a different arithmetic algebra without derivative. Thirty Six minus 16 is equal to X and if X is greater than 16, suggest the answer and if you can’t, you have failed democratic arithmetic”.
“Amaechi resisted it and we joined him in the resistance. Of course, how can a leader educate and be responsible for the future of our citizens if he cannot do a division of sum total of a number, 36? We are glad today that we decided and we got rid of that leadership through “General Amaechi”
While I completely agree with the duo of Soyinka and Tinubu that NGF Crisis is the genesis of PDP’s fall, I must also add that the party’s failure to tackle effectively the power question, energy crisis, corruption, grinding poverty and insecurity in its 16 years at the centre also contributed to its fall.
Back to the NGF Crisis, Mr. Jonathan subverted logic and arithmetic by recognizing Rev. Jona Jang with 16 votes instead of Gov. Rotimi Amaechi who triumphed with 19 votes when the NGF election was held in 2013. That created a crack within the PDP Amaechi and other four governors left the PDP for APC. They blessed the APC with their resources and clout. The ranks of APC swell and that of PDP shrank. PDP’s loss became APC’s gain. The rest as they say is history.
Beyond throwing celebration parties and Champaign popping, APC and all elected public officers can learn a thing or two from the defeat of the PDP.
One, when you get the power, serve your people well, and they won’t forget you when you need them. Great economic indices that do not translate into a better living standard, liberation from poverty and servitude are meaningless.
Two, not many Nigerians believed an incumbent President could be beaten. With the defeat of Jonathan, it is now crystal clear that what is called power of incumbency only works when the electoral process is not transparent and the people are not ready for change. Every elected public office holder is now more than ever conscious of the fact that second term is not automatic.
Three, what the 2015 elections have helped to established is that votes actually count in this clime. To a section of the Nigerian Voting Population, votes don’t just count in Nigeria. In the thinking of this set of Nigerians, a few powerful men decide the result of every election and the real election is mere formality. In other words, they don’t have a say who governs them. But Jega’s INEC has proven them wrong. Nigerians defied the scorching sun and the rains to choose their leader, and at the end of it all, the people’s choice got the crown. Nigeria won.
As APC becomes the majority party in Nigeria, it is important to note that the PDP was not rejected mainly because APC ran a better campaign. Many Nigerians just wanted an escape from the suffocation of the PDP at the centre with the hope of fresh air from the APC. This is why APC must learn from PDP’s fall. The new ruling party must not squander the goodwill it is enjoying from Nigerians. They voted for change and change they must get.
Ladesope Ladelokun, Mowe, Ogun State.