Political Convention that’ll Shape Nigeria Takes Place Today

Political Convention that’ll Shape Nigeria Takes Place Today

 

Today’s National convention of the opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is significant in all respects to political spectrum of the country.

A local newspaper, Vanguard, reports that the purpose of the convention is to elect new members of the National Working Committee (NWC) that will pilot the affairs of the party for the next four years.

“It is also expected to ratify amendments to the party constitution. Chairman, Convention Planning Committee and Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa arrived the Eagle Square at exactly 8: 32 AM, an indication the exercise will kick off in the next few hours. Another early arrival is the immediate past governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu”

This is the convention that will determine whether there will change of government in Nigeria come 2019 or that the status quo ante will be maintained.

The PDP, although lost power to the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2015 remains the largest political party in Nigeria and perhaps in Africa.  The party may have lost power due to some negligence to internal democratic process.

Having gone through the ‘political wilderness’, occasioned by the negligence, the PDP is putting this convention together, hoping to correct the mistakes of the past.

The country will await the outcome of today’s political event. If it goes well, good for the country, if the convention goes wrong, then people will hope and pray.

The ruling party, APC, has barely governed without any opposition party checkmating it. But for 16 years, the APC was fit for an opposition party. The party was stoically critical of every step of ruling PDP, a strategy that overtime weakened the party’s hold on power.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who was the APC National Publicity Secretary is believed to be a propagandist. Lai Mohammed deployed all skills and experiences in government opposition and propaganda to chase the PDP out of power in 2015.