S.O.S ALIEME

Few days ago, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar joined forces together to adopt a merger with African Democratic Congress.  This is just one of the tricks that politicians normally employ when they want to capture power by all means.  What the ADC is trying to do now is what the APC did about 10 years ago because APC happens to be a coalition of some parties when it was practically impossible for them to wrestle power from the almighty PDP of that time.

APC was formed in February 2013, the party is the result of a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) along with a breakaway faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP – a faction of the then ruling People’s Democratic Party. The party came to power following the victory of party candidate Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 Presidential election. This marked the first time in Nigerian history that an opposition party unseated a governing party and power was transferred peacefully.

In a similar way, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, the leaders of Nigeria's two main opposition parties, the Labour and People’s Democratic parties, respectively, joined the African Democratic Congress. ADC leaders described the move as an attempt to prevent one-party rule by the All Progressives Congress, and to present a united front in the 2027 Presidential elections.

Analysts suggested that this realignment would lead to the ADC emerging as Nigeria's main opposition party. It is crystal clear that what APC did in 2013 is what the new ADC is trying to do.  Let us see how it works. How this alliance will work is still very unclear to majority of Nigerians.  The first envisaged problem is the issue of who becomes the Presidential candidate or flag bearer for this new political merger.  Is it Peter Obi or Atiku Abubakar?  Who will step down for the other as they are both heavy weights in the political scene in Nigeria. 

Atiku Abubakar though elderly will not want to step down for Peter Obi who he considers as inexperienced when it comes to Nigeria politics.  On the other hand Peter Obi though younger than Atiku Abubakar believes so much in his dream of changing the problems of Nigeria into economic fortunes. The burning issues include how the coalition, due to the varied political backgrounds of its members and clash of ambition of its leaders would coalesce and fundamentally, how they would integrate with the old structure of the party. The coming of the coalition members into the party, is already causing problems within its fold with the older members saying that the party has been hijacked from them while some members of the collation are also not comfortable with the manner the leaders are trying to fit into a pre-existing entity instead of forming a new party.

Analysts believe that despite the imperfections of the coalition leading to the adoption of the ADC as platform, that it is coming as a relief and huge break for democracy to thrive as the country was hitherto tilting towards a one party state.

To digress a little bit, it is very certain that the first phase in the struggle for the Presidency in 2027 has already started long before the flag off of campaigns. Well, does the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) matter anymore? If you care to know, this is a prelude to rigging the 2027 Presidential election.

In politics, no less than war, the lessons of the last campaign are prized beyond their application to the present one. But like each battle, each political campaign is dependent upon the experience of the past, but every political campaign is in itself unique. Is it a surprise to you that about 27 months to the next general elections, the desperate pursuit to re-elect President Bola Tinubu has been at fever pitch for days? That’s why Nigerian politics rings alarm. It’s about the manner of characters that pollute our democratic process and makes it look like a sham, if not a scam.           

Call these politicians charlatans and sycophants, you may not be far from this malaise that has afflicted our politics. For want of proper definition, these politicians are malicious tricksters who deceive for personal profit. They are servile flatterers, ass-kissers, and yes men. Their aim is to seek through the revolving doors of the powerful and influential. It’s the currency of their fame. They are poison in our democracy. That’s why our democracy heaves with hysteria. But the man in power loves to surround himself with these sycophants. Reason: he uses them as oxygen of publicity to gauge public opinions of what he intends to do. It’s also part of his tools to intimidate political opponents. Sycophants have a clear-cut pattern. Their flattering often comes ahead of the next election. For now, the game is dubbed, “No vacancy in Aso Rock”. 

However, after consolidating his grip on power, he discards some of them like disposable napkins because their relevance to him has expired. For politicians, treating people to the ballot box on Election Day is a mere fulfilment of ‘all righteousness’. They believe, albeit wrongly, in the myth that the incumbent President must always be re-elected. For those that are affected as sycophants, and a horde of others who think like them, elections in Nigeria do not offer valid choices. They may be right in so far as the electoral process can be manipulated to favour the incumbent.       

The only way of discouraging a serious challenge to the man in power is for him to demonstrate competence and performance. Nigerians haven’t seen any improvement in their lives in the last 19 months. Never before have the citizens been visited with such hard, I mean damn hard tough times as they are experiencing now. When they say, ‘No vacancy in the Presidency’, the President’s henchmen are expressing a ‘fear factor’,  that based on the president’s abysmal performance, and record low in public standing, he’s very beatable in the next election in 2027. If you are not aware, APC is playing the expectation game. One of its offensive political weapons is to decimate the opposition and cause mass defections of opposition lawmakers. For now, that strategy is working. The ultimate plan is that by the time APC is through with destroying opposition parties, the gate to Aso Rock will be wide open for Tinubu to remain in power even beyond 2031 if he so desires.

I want the President to take this message seriously: Mr President, beware: 2027 may be 27 months away, but it’s too early to be so confident that the race is won and lost even when no single ballot has been cast yet.

God Bless Nigeria!!!