The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a decision on Monday, November 3 which suggested that members of its decision making organ are no more comfortable with their decision to make President Goodluck Jonathan the sole presidential candidate.
What did the party do right, you may ask? It retracted its resolve to stop all other presidential aspirants from obtaining nomination forms.
Before now, the PDP had basked in endorsing Jonathan laced with sycophancy.
When, therefore, its National Working Committee (NWC) made the U-turn through a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metu, I knew it had woken up from a deep slumber to realise its political undoing.
Metu said the deadline for the purchase and collection of all nomination forms had been extended to Thursday, November 6, 2014.
“All aspirants who paid for nomination forms, including the presidential form but are yet to collect same, should come to the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja with verifiable evidence of payment for the purchase of collecting their forms,” he added.
The mistake started when PDP members blindly endorsed Jonathan en mass regardless of whether there are other party men and women qualified and interested in running for the office of the president with him.
Though the party leaders swore that Jonathan has done “marvelously well” and needed to continue in office they forgot to ask themselves how shutting out others would help deepen the tenets of democracy.
Writing on “When Thomas Jefferson Dined Alone” in his 204-page book, How to get to the top: Business lessons learned at the dinner table, Jeffery J. Fox said: “There are two times when you must have perfect table manners: when you dine with others and when you dine alone. Be it a family meal, a business meeting, a campfire roast, dining with others is a linchpin of civilization….
“Dining alone reminds everyone of President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech honouring America’s Nobel Prize winners, members of Congress, and esteemed guests noting, ‘this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.’”
Until last week when the PDP leaders realised their mistakes and called on other interested aspirants to join the race for Aso Rock, in their calculation Jonathan seemed to be everything Nigeria needs in a leader.
No other human being in the country can compare to him and the impression you get, if you are discerning enough, is whether we have a president who is God; all knowing, and has answers to all problems.
I had argued in this column when the party reportedly barred Abduljelili, son of former Prime Minister Tafawa Belewa, from collecting the presidential nomination form that the implication could only be imagined.
“I am not intimidated by the decision of the PDP governors and the party to support the second term aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan. What type of democracy do we have?” he cried out a month ago.
The party also refused to sell the form to Zainab, wife of the late Moshood Abiola, to pursue her presidential ambition as enshrined in the Constitution of the country.
Whatever made the party to reverse itself is not the crux of today’s discourse, but the backlash it has generated with great implications.
Developments in the PDP of late are thought provoking. The defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to the All Progressives Congress (APC); the plot to blackmail his Deputy, Emeka Ihedioha; ward congresses causing PDP members to shout blue murder because of the manipulation of governors; and the sing song of endorsements in its ranks nationwide.
These are some of the things the PDP must get quick answers to, or else it will pay dearly at the ballot box.
All these developments point to one thing: the resort to short cut to attain elective positions without caring a fig about the implication on our delicate democratic experience.
I wonder what the international community is thinking about us now, particularly about our democracy that has become more of endorsement than elective democracy.
Nobody is saying here that a politician who has done well cannot be endorsed by the electorate, but a situation where politicians are the once doing the mathematics of their own endorsement, using the instrumentality of their office for ulterior motives, is a big shame.
When the PDP endorsed Jonathan, it was obvious that governors would seek endorsement too. I did not need any seer to tell me that members of the PDP at the National Assembly would root for the same political mantra. Are we therefore surprised about what we saw during the last ward congress election for PDP delegates across the country?
One PDP House of Representatives member from Anambra State was sincere enough to tell me on Tuesday, November 4 that the country has lost it.
“I think I have to reconsider my involvement in Nigerian politics because nothing is changing,” he moaned. He said the ward congresses election was simply a ploy by governors, PDP leaders and those close to Aso Rock to remain relevant; it was not about the electorate and democracy.
There are things you hear about political office holders and you wonder what their plans are for future Nigeria and the electorate they deceive.
We hear of governors scheming to go to the Senate and plotting to secure a place for their wives, children, relatives and friends at federal or state level. It causes concern that all these are happening under the nose of Jonathan as the leader of the PDP and he is not bothered.
But why would our beloved president be bothered when he has his own ticket in his pocket so to say?
Put differently, on what moral pedestal would Jonathan stand to stop a David Mark, Godswill Akpabio, Jonah Jang, Sullivan Chime, to name but a few, from doing the unimaginable to realise their own political dream when they “worked hard” to ensure the road leading to the endorsement of Jonathan was rid of human impurities?
The other political parties may not be better in terms of internal democracy. However, the PDP is entering a very difficult terrain, as the days ahead roll over, due to certain political faux pas the leaders commit for selfish interest.
The APC is fast learning from PDP mistakes and I see the members taking huge advantage of that during electioneering. On Tuesday, November 4, Senator Bukola Saraki endorsed his stooge, Kwara State Governor, Abdufattah Ahmed, with a caveat that others interested in running for the office are free to do so.
It will also be wrong for the PDP to assume that the suffering Nigerian electorate are not watching developments with keen interest.
And I agree with Fox that for democracy to grow, the dinner table must be crowded by more persons, and not just Jonathan, who will be open to discussion and scrutiny, or else we stand the risk of behaving like a player giving the coach a chance to bench him.