PDP : THE UMBRELLA AND THE STORM AHEAD

The wind of defection blowing across the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) which has seen some big name politicians crossover to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) especially in Edo and Ondo States in the last few days or weeks has been a source of concern to all.

Pundits see this development as a lifeline gifted to the PDP to bounce back to reckoning after its body language suggested that it had accepted total defeat from the APC following the victories of the latter in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

But while the APC seems rattled and deeply worried, the PDP is celebrating and experts warn that there is really no need for such celebration as the PDP doesn't look serious enough to turn the table against the APC by cashing on all the advantages presented or provided by the internal wrangling of the governing party to topple it come 2023.

Experts opine that this is not the first time the PDP will have this kind of opportunity but falter. At some point before the 2019 general election, the APC was almost in disarray when the executive arm of government engaged the legislative arm (National Assembly) then led by Bukola Saraki in an endless cold war leading to the exit of Saraki and a host of others to the PDP...Yet the opposition party could not utilise the opportunity. It fell like a pack of cards in the polls.

There is the feeling or fear that not all those who defect or defected from APC to PDP meant well for the party....just like all those who defected few years ago from the PDP to APC are the same set of politicians returning today. The issue here is there are strange bird fellows at every giving point within and around the parties.

Suffice this to mean that there are enemies within the PDP especially at this point of defection or movements from the governing party to the opposition party. There is the feeling that some politicians were or are deliberately used to upset or upstage the parties in this case, PDP. They are implanted to cause havoc and deplete the party or parties before, during and after election....only return back to base.

The warning here is that not all those coming into the party at this point are loyalists. They are actually coming in or defecting because of their personal interests which are no longer protected by their former party, in this case, APC....They are equally defecting to act as spies, cause chaos and leave.

This is suggesting that the PDP is not ready for the battle ahead and it appears the party has given up on making any meaningful impact in our political atmosphere or arrangement in the next dispensation.

Looking at the faces or voices behind the PDP, it is visible and obvious that they are fading away. They don't seem to be speaking with one voice. At the moment only Gov. Nyesom Wike is outspoken. But observers from closer quarters say, Wike who has openly told Alhaji Abubakar Atiku to forget about having another shot at the Presidency....may be plotting a pact with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of APC in the nearest future to ensure an alliance that will stop Atiku. This is an allegation. It is not confirmed.

The same school of thought suggests that Tinubu will buy into this plot to equally use Wike to checkmate Kaduna governor, Nasri El-Rufai who has an eye for the presidency just like Tinubu. This could mean that a new political arrangement which could lead to a new political party could be brewing slowly yet secretly.

Going by this permutations, rumours, speculations or allegations the PDP just like the APC may even breakup before 2023. However, nothing is assured considering our political environment. Anything can still happen.

With each passing day the voices behind the PDP go thinner or tinier. Abubakar Atiku, Peter Obi, Bukola Saraki, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal, David Mark, Dino Melaye and Ayo Fayose among others have been off the public view for sometime. Even when they speak from their respective abodes, they don't make significant impact. This leaves Wike with a leading tone with the leverage of the proximity to the National Chairman of his party, Uche Secondus.

For the likes of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, they have equally remained anonymous as far as the political situation of the country and PDP are concerned. They may have aces to serve in due course but as things stand, they appear to be sitting on the fence. Such position is not of any advantage to the PDP.

This leads to the question, can the umbrella stand the storm ahead?