About a year ago, Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari on what he called poor performance of the president and the need for a Third Force, a political party to emerge purposely to liberate the country.
The former president had also earlier lambasted the major opposition party in the country, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for its 16 years of woeful performance at the centre.
Obasanjo, however, suggested the need for a Third Force political party that could bring about a true democracy.
Following his controversial letter, two political parties emerged and claimed to be the Third Force, which Nigerians have been expecting. The parties are the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The people loved our manifesto and philosophy because they could connect with us, especially with the Abiola experience. We are the only party that is ideological in terms of philosophy, orientation and the policies we intend to pursue
But since the emergence of the parties, with the claim of being the Third Force, political observers have been asking various questions, which are yet to be answered.
The first question ponders on who is really the Third Force between the two parties? Second, has any of the parties done enough in recent times to be justified as the Third Force? Another question is whether they have what it takes to win a tangible position in the 2019 general elections.
Social Democratic Party
Shortly after the letter written by former President Obasanjo on the need for third force, SDP appeared to be the party which prophecies were made about. It witnessed some defections of stalwarts from other parties and quickly institutionalized its executives to pilot the party into victory.
But shortly after the ovation that welcomed the arrival of the party and its positioning to become the much-anticipated Third Force, little or nothing has been seen to buttress the claim of being the Third Force political party which Nigerians can test run.
For instance, in the Ekiti State governorship election that took place in July, all eyes were on what could be the efforts of the party. But, in what looked like a disappointment to political observers, the flag bearer of SDP, Akinloye Aiyegbusi, was only able to win 367 votes.
Though one of the party chieftains, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, said the party was unable to come out victorious because of the vote buying allegedly perpetrated by the All Progressives Congress and PDP.
“SDP could have won the election in Ekiti State, but for the malpractice of vote buying embarked upon by APC and PDP.
“The people loved our manifesto and philosophy because they could connect with us, especially with the Abiola experience. We are the only party that is ideological in terms of philosophy, orientation and the policies we intend to pursue,” Adeniran had claimed.
Meanwhile, despite the claim by Prof. Adeniran, political pundits said the result was not good enough to justify the party as the Third Force it has been claiming.
A political analyst, Abdullahi Olasumbo, said “SDP has not done anything to merit the Third Force. Ekiti election was a disappointing outing for them, and for me, they need to do more and focus on winning elections, especially the coming Osun election. If they can triumph in this, then, that will encourage people to align with them in the 2019 general elections.”
We happen to be the fastest growing political party now and we are taking time to restructure and re-frame our system so that we are able to contain the rapid growth. It’s not in dispute who is the Third Force
African Democratic Congress
There is no doubt that another party that Nigerians are currently watching as a fast-growing opposition is the African Democratic Congress.
Though the party has been in existence since 2006 and had made little impact in the Nigerian political space, its coming back with the backing of former President Obasanjo has thrown it into a major limelight.
Currently, ADC has no fewer than 150 elected politicians across the country. Among this are several lawmakers.
To this end, the party is expected to prove its worth in the 2019 general elections.
Though, like SDP its counterpart, in the claim of being the Third Force, ADC was unable to break through in the Ekiti State governorship election that was held in July. This without doubt made political followers skeptical about the party’s claim that it has come to deliver Nigerians from the grip of the APC and PDP. But the leadership of the party recently in Lagos told our correspondent that the party had rekindled its efforts and strategies to record a better outing in the Osun State governorship election.
The national chairman of the party, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, said: “ADC seems to be the main force but for now, we are struggling, we are moving up the ladder very fast. We happen to be the fastest growing political party now and we are taking time to restructure and re-frame our system so that we are able to contain the rapid growth. It’s not in dispute who is the Third Force.”
Speaking about the current strength of the party, Nwosu said: “As we speak now, we have about five senators and over 130 persons elected across the nation. So, it’s not in dispute where we stand. By the time this election ends, we are going to turn up quite some numbers. So we are very comfortable.”
Meanwhile, the other issue which political observers have also harped on that may hamper the party’s chance is the financial capability to match the ruling APC.
But the leadership of ADC believed his ideology is not based on money making but repositioning the country for better, hence, it has declared that its mission will be achieved through the fight against vote buying and other electoral malpractices.
Owing to this, ADC’s nomination form was rolled out at a considerable amount with a discount to encourage the youth.
For instance, nomination fee for the presidential position was pegged at N10 million as against the ruling party which pegged its presidential nomination form at
N45 million.
Observers, however, are worried about the ability of ADC to be be able to garner enough funds to push its electoral activities in the coming general elections. But the party chair in a conversation with our correspondent made it known that the little the party will derive from membership fees will be enough to achieve their mission in the coming general elections.
“Ours is not about money making. Little amount that will be seen from membership fees and the nomination forms will be alright to achieve our goals. ADC is not about money,it’s out to create a better Nigeria,” Nwosu maintained.
