Jega
People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) PDP is the ruling political party in Nigeria. It has won all
the presidential elections held in the country since the return to
civil rule in 1999. Formed by a coalition several political organisation
in 1998, the party has to its credit a national spread. It has
membership virtually in all the nooks and crannies of the country.
The party which rightfully prides itself
as the biggest party in sub-Saharan Africa produced Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo as President in 1999 till 2007. It also won majority of the
state governorship positions in the first election leaving the Alliance
for Democracy (AD) with six and the All Peoples Party (APP) with nine.
In 2007, the party fielded the late
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as its presidential candidate and won. Upon his
death, President Goodluck Jonathan emerged to complete his term. He went
ahead to win the 2011 election on the platform of the PDP.
Though it has won all the presidential
elections, analysts are of the opinion that the popularity of the party
is waning by the day. Its loss in all the six states of the southwest,
its hitherto North-central stronghold of Nassarawa and the twin states
of Anambra and Imo in the southeast is a pointer to this argument.
According to pundits, the party in line
with its identity as a conservative party, has a market-driven approach
for the economy. With internal crises rocking many of its state
chapters, the PDP is going into the New Year with a lot on its plate to
battle ahead of the 2015 general election.
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
This party has continued to prove its
critics wrong since its emergence on the political scene in 2007. Formed
with the merger of several parties, including Advance Congress of
Democrats, Justice Party and Alliance for Democracy, not many people
gave the alliance a chance to survive.
The party has a strong presence in
Nigeria’s south-west, mid-west and north central regions. From these
areas, the party has a total of six governors and about 19 senators,
making it the second largest party in the country, following the
inability of the ANPP to retain most of the seats it won in the early
elections. and 2 representatives to the state houses. In the 2007
assembly elections, the party won 32 of the 360 seats in the House of
Representatives but today, it boasts of more than 60 honourable members
in the lower house. Given its progressive leaning, the party is seen by
many as the masses’ party and it is going into the New Year with this
appellation.
All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP)
This is another major political party in
Nigeria. In the 2007 elections, the party had won about 27 per cent of
the popular votes and also won 92 of the 360 seats in the House of
Representatives. In the Senate, ANPP won 27 of the total 109 seats.
But today, left with only three
governors and seven senators in its care, the party seems to have lost
its winning streak. Unable to retain most of the governorship and
senatorial seats in its kitty during the last general election, the ANPP
performed very badly in the presidential race.
With a right-wing conservative ideology
and a mass appeal, particularly in northern Nigeria, the party at
inception was touted as the alternative to the ruling PDP. But its many
battle with internal skirmishes didn’t help its quest to take over the
leadership of the country.
Many see its involvement in the ongoing
merger talk as an attempt to relaunch itself back on the track of
national politics in the country. The commitment of its leaders to the
talk will determine where it will be placed in the politics of the
coming years.
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)
This is another major political party in
Nigeria. Formed hurriedly in time for the 2011 general election, it put
up what many called a surprise performance, coming second in the
presidential race. Its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari,
was even touted as the man to beat in many opinion polls prior to the
election.
The party also got six senators elected
on its platform and crowned its surprise victory run by winning the
governorship seat in Nassarawa State.
Currently, apart from being deeply
involved in the opposition merger talks, the CPC is undergoing serious
restructuring with its leaders saying the exercise is meant to position
the party to take over the government of the country at the national
level.
Its popularity is also spreading wide,
especially in the northern part of the country where it is seen as a
veritable alternative to the ailing ANPP. It is expected to play a vital
role in the politics of 2013.
TheNation
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