Sunday 30 December 2012

…Leading political parties: How they stand


…Leading political parties: How they stand 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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