…fortunately for Nigeria’s multi-party democracy, the NDC has come to the rescue and it seems to be succeeding where the PDP and ADC have failed. Founded by Senator Seriake Dickson, former governor of Bayelsa State, the NDC, like a child of political necessity, has been positioned as the main opposition party and challenger to the ruling APC, going into the 2027 general elections.
After what appeared like a dark cloud of uncertainty that enveloped opposition politics in Nigeria, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) may have become the light at the end of a dark tunnel. With the collapse of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) arising from self-immolation and the coalition of chaos that is now the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was going to coast home to an easy victory, despite its acute underperformance, with the additional prospect of Nigeria sliding into a one party dominated state. Whilst the Nigerian political space cannot be said to have virile opposition parties because most political parties are not clearly distinguishable from one another in terms of ideological leanings, internal modus operandi, as well as conduct in government, there nevertheless existed a healthy rivalry for power, which kept the polity vibrant.
I have always described the political party system in Nigeria as the weakest link in the value chain of the country’s multi-party democracy, as they are anything but political parties in the truest sense of the concept. So, at best, what we have in Nigeria are rival political parties and not opposition. But even this rivalry that kept Nigeria’s polity a bit vibrant, with the prospect of concession of the most marginal dividends of democracy by rival politicians seeking power from the people, was aborted since 2023 when PDP, the main rival party to the ruling APC, committed political hara-kiri by side stepping the zoning arrangements that rotates presidential power between the north and south of Nigeria every eight years. With the APC staying true to the principles of zoning, hence picking its presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu from the South, the PDP, which picked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the North, meant that the party sailed against the winds of presidency that was blowing South, after eight years of the Northern presidency of Muhammadu Buhari.
The emergence of APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president of Nigeria from Southern Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election, left the PDP shipwrecked and sinking into oblivion, as most of its members simply crossed over to the more stable and trust worthy APC ship, which has proven its ability in providing accommodation with the guarantees of inclusion, fairness and justice to all sections of the country. Even among bandits, honour is a virtue, but not so in the PDP. From about a dozen states under its control after the 2023 general elections, the party has since shrunk to having only one state (Oyo) on the eve of the 2027 general elections. And apparently not having learnt the valuable lesson of what happened to the PDP, Atiku and other politicians displaced into the ADC decided to repeat the same mistake of 2023 in 2027 by failing to zone its candidacy to the South.
In addition to the coming together of Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso under the auspices of the OK movement into the fold of the party, the NDC’s decision to zone the presidency to the South is a master stroke that will prove to be a game changer in the politics of Nigeria. The OK movement is the coming together of the Obidient and Kwankwasiyya support groups, as their leaders have closed ranks and agreed to work together to challenge the APC in the coming elections.
But fortunately for Nigeria’s multi-party democracy, the NDC has come to the rescue and it seems to be succeeding where the PDP and ADC have failed. Founded by Senator Seriake Dickson, former governor of Bayelsa State, the NDC, like a child of political necessity, has been positioned as the main opposition party and challenger to the ruling APC, going into the 2027 general elections. In addition to the coming together of Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso under the auspices of the OK movement into the fold of the party, the NDC’s decision to zone the presidency to the South is a master stroke that will prove to be a game changer in the politics of Nigeria. The OK movement is the coming together of the Obidient and Kwankwasiyya support groups, as their leaders have closed ranks and agreed to work together to challenge the APC in the coming elections.
The emergence of the OK movement on the platform of the NDC is something that should worry the ruling party and make it lose sleep, because this is the largest and most organic mass support group in the history of the Fourth Republic that money cannot buy. While it is too early to give an accurate forecast about how far the NDC will go, one thing is sure: the party will halt Nigeria’s slide into a one party state. And if the leaders of NDC can craft a message of real hope and make a firm commitment to reverse President Tinubu’s policies on petrol subsidy removal and floatation of the naira, amongst many others, the OK movement will expand into a massive people power base that is capable of overrunning any attempt at electoral subterfuge. And the prospect of Peter Obi running with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for the presidency of Nigeria is a positive development for Nigeria’s unity in diversity, national healing and reconciliation, which can be likened to the Obama/Biden ticket in the 2008 US presidential election that produced the first African American President.
Ahead of Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has emerged as a prominent political leader from northern Nigeria with a genuine pan-Nigerian nationalist status that can command respect and reverence, going forward. His current stand on the need for equity, justice and fairness stands him out as a hero of democracy, whose name shall be written in wall of fame of the Fourth Republic in gold relief. By taking a firm position to respect zoning, Kwankwaso has demonstrated honour and fidelity to agreements.
Like Joe Biden, a White man who was first elected a US Senator in 1973, when Barack Obama was just 12 years old, ended up running as his vice-presidential nominee, Kwankwaso, who comparatively comes from the “politically advantaged” Hausa speaking Muslim north, with a richer political pedigree, having been variously deputy speaker of the federal parliament, governor, minister of defence and senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, similarly agreeing to be Obi’s running mate going into the 2027 election, has a bright prospect of producing the first Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. And just like America reached its zenith of human civilisation when a Black man was elected president by its White majority citizens, Nigeria would have healed from one of its major fault lines and achieved closure to one of its darkest historical episodes, if Kwankwaso is able to mobilise the Muslim North behind Obi, an Igbo Christian to victory in 2027. And just like Biden reaped from where he sowed by becoming president after Obama, riding on the support of one of America’s most popular former presidents, Kwankwaso will similarly benefit from the bridge he is helping to build for Obi now, as it will lead him to Aso Rock in 2031.
Ahead of Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has emerged as a prominent political leader from northern Nigeria with a genuine pan-Nigerian nationalist status that can command respect and reverence, going forward. His current stand on the need for equity, justice and fairness stands him out as a hero of democracy, whose name shall be written in wall of fame of the Fourth Republic in gold relief. By taking a firm position to respect zoning, Kwankwaso has demonstrated honour and fidelity to agreements. And beyond partisan politics, Kwankwaso has deployed his influence to bring unity, healing, reconciliation and hope to the Nigerian people. For the NDC, it is always better to do the right thing, even if you will lose an election, than to do the wrong thing and still lose like the PDP did in 2023 with Atiku Abubakar.
Majeed Dahiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja and can be reached through [email protected].