Entrenched in power for 14 years and enjoying the advantage of incumbency, do the opposition parties expect the PDP people to lower their guards and allow them take power just like that? As Bola Ahmed Tinubu of ACN once reminded General Buhari, the perceived disenchantment with the PDP is not automatically enough to remove the party from power unless the opposition parties work hard and work out good strategies to achieve the objective.
One of the onerous challenges facing the opposition parties is internal unity. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) made a formidable start in 2010 and instantly became popular among the ordinary Nigerians. Unfortunately, however, the party’s national leaders introduced unpopular policies, such as the substitution and imposition of candidates which is currently the main cause of the bitter internal crisis facing the party.
Since the end of the 2011 general elections, the CPC leaders have been battling with the challenge of rebuilding and re-uniting the party. These efforts require sincerity and respect for internal democracy. Party members and supporters are still angry at the unjust policy of the imposition and substitution of candidates.
As a mark of commitment to unity, the party leadership should officially discard the policy of imposing candidates and disrespecting the choice of voters at the primaries. The CPC should not take unity for granted in order to effectively confront the PDP in 2015.
Despite these worries, one is however impressed by the recent show of unity among CPC supporters in Kano State last week when the party’s presidential candidate in 2011 general elections, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, came to open the party’s head office in Kano.
Putting behind the bitterness of 2011, the party’s gubernatorial aspirant, Mohammed Abacha mobilised his supporters to welcome General Buhari to the event. In fact, the crowd was so huge that the General couldn’t find the space to come down from his car to carry out the event that brought him to Kano. He had to commission the office from his car because of the surging crowd that overwhelmed his vehicle.
Many people have openly hailed Mohammed Abacha for his commitment to the unity of the CPC. He is a pragmatic politician who believes that the unity of the party is greater than the ambition of any individual member. In fact, the mammoth crowd that turned up to receive General Buhari was a real sign of reconciliation and solidarity among CPC supporters in Kano State. The massive mobilisation of his supporters to welcome General Buhari demonstrates Mohammed Abacha’s unwavering loyalty to the party.
Commitment to a political party doesn’t end with the conclusion of elections. Mohammed Abacha is not like those politicians that desert their party once they lost the election and join the party in power for personal relevance and survival. If he was aspiring to be a governor in 2011 for personal gain, Abacha would have left CPC to join the winning party.
He didn’t do so because he joined the CPC with the firm conviction that it is a people-oriented party for change. At the opening at the party’s secretariat in Kano, the evidence of Mohammed Abacha’s popularity dominated the scene with chants of songs of solidarity with him. His popularity among the people was unmistakable even to the casual observer.
With many opposition parties, including APGA, crying out that the ruling PDP is allegedly behind their internal division, the event in Kano should serve as a starting point for CPC unity. Many of those who thought that Mohammed Abacha had parted ways with the party because of the way he was treated in 2011 must now be disappointed because their prediction fell flat.
The scale on which Mohammed mobilised his supporters to welcome General Buhari is a revelation to those seeking to capitalise on the internal division in the CPC to destroy it. What happened in Kano was a significant message to the ruling party that the CPC supporters and members are determined to stand together and bounce back.
It is, however, important at this point to remind the CPC national leaders that they must never rest on their oars until all factions and chapters of the party across the country are reconciled and re-united. They must reach out to Mohammed Abacha and embrace him. No political party should isolate and antagonise members and leaders with formidable grassroots support.
Mohammed Abacha has proved his detractors wrong that he is an opportunistic politician. If he was, he would have done what Senator Adamu Aliero did in Kebbi State by abandoning the CPC and going back to PDP for political survival. Abacha took his own initiative to mobilise his supporters to welcome General Buhari with open arms.
There were rumours that Mohammed Abacha and General Buhari were not on speaking terms. The event in Kano, however, had put to rest such insinuation. Despite the unfortunate events of 2011, Mohammed Abacha has always held General Buhari in high esteem. He regards the General as a father and therefore, no good son could have remained angry with his father without ultimately reconciling with him.
As the CPC prepares for the 2015 election, the party leaders should learn lessons from past mistakes. The people should be allowed to choose their own candidates at all levels. Imposition and substitution of candidates is inconsistent with democratic principles. The outcomes of primaries must be respected provided the elections are free and fair.
Party leaders have no business tampering with the results of elections to favour their own aspirants. In fact, as a party aspiring to be a better alternative to the ruling PDP, the CPC should set the highest standard of internal democracy by allowing justice, fairplay and a level playing field to prevail.
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