With the general hue and cry against the All Progressives Congress, sparked by accusations of non-performance against President Bola Tinubu, the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party have been locked in a silent dogfight to establish which party between them is at the forefront of opposition politics in Nigeria.
Forming the fulcrum for this battle to determine which party will mount the podium and be crowned Nigeria’s main opposition party are two political juggernauts, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the LP, who both lost the last presidential election held in February 25, 2023 to Tinubu.
Politically, the two men have upped the ante by being more vocal in criticising the government and analysts say it is all connected to their respective quest to be the more notable and dominant opposition politician.
Prior to the election, Obi was a member of the PDP and wanted to use the party’s platform to claw his way to Nigeria’s seat of power, Aso Rock villa, but in May 2022, he left the party unceremoniously after he claimed that certain “recent developments” in the PDP would not make it possible for him to make “constructive contributions.”
The former Anambra State governor had realised that winning the sole presidential ticket of the PDP would be a pipedream and so he joined the Labour Party and with his Obidient Movement midwife’s one of the biggest political resurgence the nation has ever witnessed and which powered the Labour Party to a brilliant performance during the general elections.
The LP was the dark horse in the keenly contested presidential election and the participation of its flagbearer, Obi, was said to have thrown a spanner in the works of former Vice president, Atiku, who was aiming for political ascendancy after multiple failed attempts at capturing the presidency.
After the legal fireworks in the nation’s courts were done and dusted and the Apex court, the Supreme Court, had given Tinubu’s government its stamp of approval, the PDP and LP went back to working in the trenches where they have continued restrategising all efforts to defeat Tinubu and the APC in 2027.
But beating the APC will not be easy and the opposition parties know this. Thus, Atiku in his capacity as a seasoned and battle hardened presidential candidate made concerted efforts to address the lopsidedness.
The idea for a merger between the PDP, LP and some other political parties was mooted but ideological differences was the albatross that short-circuited the project and the merger talks, at least for now, were temporarily halted.
Meanwhile, Obi had already become a lone wolf in bashing Tinubu and not only this, the president’s reforms as well as some of the actions he took and even failed to take were criticised left, right and centre by the former Anambra State governor.
Obi also seemingly became the unofficial mouthpiece for the opposition and for quite a while, many Nigerians believed that he would be the one to give Tinubu a run for his money in 2027.
In the present climate, however, Atiku has started to leave no doubt as to his reawakening from his ephemeral political slumber. The 77-year-old Waziri Adamawa has been more opinionated now in the polity and is confronting the present administration head-on with gusto.
Only last week, the former Customs officer went straight for the jugular, calling Tinubu “Tourist-In-Chief” because, according to him, the president travelled to France at a time insecurity was at an appalling rate in the country and many innocent Nigerians had either been killed by terrorists or gotten kidnapped for ransom.
Atiku said Tinubu was “playing fiddle” while Nigeria was drowning in the ocean of insecurity. He then asked the president to step aside if he could not resolve the nation’s security challenges. The presidency, however, replied that his (Atiku) statement was reckless and that Tinubu was on top of the situation.
That reply to Atiku, as well as others similar in nature, had prompted some Nigerians like Bashir Ahmad, a former aide to ex-president Muhammadu Buhari, to infer that the presidency is giving more attention to Atiku as an opposition figure than Obi.
“I like the way the presidency puts Peter Obi in the right place.
“Despite his (Obi) unending comments since after his loss (in the election), there has never been a direct response to him (from the presidency).
“Meanwhile, Atiku has been receiving back-to-back responses from the State House.
“There are different levels of engagement at play,” Bashir said on X.
A political analyst and Port Harcourt-based Chartered Accountant, Ifeoma Ogbonna, told The Point, “It is interesting how this silent fight to be Nigeria’s main opposition party is continuing to heat up.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think there will be any merger between the PDP and the LP and their top men (Atiku and Obi) know this and both are going it alone with their political pursuits.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think there will be any merger between the PDP and the LP and their top men (Atiku and Obi) know this and both are going it alone with their political pursuits”
“Obi has been doing a good job. He has been spearheading the criticism against the APC government and gradually he is winning new hearts by the day.
“Obi is much more loved today. He has been visiting disaster areas, donating money and endearing himself to Nigerians. Not only that, where the need arises, he airs his views about the government’s shortcomings,” she said.
Ogbonna also said Atiku was a “formidable voice” in the polity and that whenever the former Vice president spoke, the nation listened.
“Any time, any day, I think Atiku brings something special when it comes to opposition politics. The PDP must thank him for this.
“Atiku is also one of the reasons why the PDP will be the main opposition party in 2027. His connections and influence are there for all to see.
“He is also a formidable voice who speaks and everyone listens. Atiku is still up there and it will be difficult to knock him off,” she declared.
Also, apart from the traditional ways political parties and even politicians use to lay claim to being at the summit of opposition politics, analysts say the sale of nomination forms has also now begun to be used in making watered-down statements about parties being big and highly coveted.
This is true because usually in Nigeria, ruling parties are often guilty of selling nomination forms at cut-throat prices but as it is, opposition parties, too, have been found wanting in that regard.
A case in point is the Labour Party in Edo state. Analysts say perhaps to flex its muscles as a big player and also recognised as the leading opposition party in the state, the party decided to peg its Governorship Nomination and Expression of Interests Forms in the state at a whooping N30m.
Interestingly, it was a former presidential spokesperson for the party, Kenneth Okonkwo, who had a few choice words for the party.
Okonkwo said, “The decision by the Labour Party to fix its Edo State governorship nomination form at N30m is simply excessive, objectionable and unacceptable. This is towing the line of the failed and corrupt APC and PDP.
“Nomination fee by a party which is meant to be a party for ordinary workers and which the ordinary workers cannot afford, is insensitive and ill-advised.
“The LP should retrace its steps now to avoid being classified in the same category as the old Nigeria political parties.”
Okonkwo’s anguishing about the situation did not seem to move the party as its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in a tone laced with sarcasm, told LP aspirants in the state who could not afford the fee to step down.
Ifoh also said the party had the most “economical” fees compared to what the APC and PDP were asking for.
A public affairs commentator, Ndubuisi Etenwa, who shared with The Point his thoughts on the controversial sale of nomination forms at what he called “a ridiculously high amount” said, “You can see what the LP is doing in Edo State. All of a sudden their nomination form is N30m…a ridiculously high amount.
“Why should the leadership of the party do this? Is it by force to want to be the main opposition party in a state or Nigeria? Must depression be the order of the day because you are claiming to provide a viable option for desperate politicians who want an alternative to the ruling party?
“If the Labour Party was not thinking so highly of itself, they would not have used the amount for their nomination form to prove that they are the main opposition party in Edo State, something the PDP there would dispute.”
