By
Victor Effik
Nigerians may have to expect a full blown one-party rule unless
the opposition parties gear up and put their houses in order. 2019 may just end
up as a one horse race. The evidence is simply overwhelming. As I write, the
ruling party is using all the political tricks in its bag to lure many
members of the opposition PDP in the National Assembly into its fold. Their
soft targets are the serving members who may, in the estimation of the party
apparatchik, not get a return ticket for another term; they are also targeting
those who are not in the good books of their state governors.
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| *Buhari |
And that reminds us that the greatest problem in the opposition
camp are the governors. Apart from bringing a frankenstein monster called
Sheriff, they seem not intelligent enough to know where their power stops. Some
of them are even antagonizing serving members of the National Assembly who
should add political value to the party and by extension, their second term
ambitions. And apart from Rivers
State
Really, the opposition PDP is in tatters. That has been the plan
of the ruling APC. The plan is working well now. No thanks to overzealous state
governors, lack of party cohesion and discipline that characterize Nigerian
party politics.
The feeling from within the ruling party is that except a death
blow is dealt on PDP given its 16 years dominance, there is a threat that it
might bounce back. So, the strategy of the ruling party to dismember it was
carefully hatched. Let us now look at the following scenarios:First, the
Sheriff strategy fitted the bill. Given his case with EFCC and the likelihood
of him being roped into the Boko Haram conundrum, he was seen as an easy prey
who will play ball. And he has done that so perfectly. The APC strategists did
their homework well.
Second, a section of the judiciary perceived to be hostile must be
brought to its knees if the Sheriff strategy must work. Those judges perceived
to be a stumbling block needed to be singled out and dealt with. True, the
state may have a genuine case against some of them, but like the anti
corruption campaign has shown, the campaign is heavily skewed in favour those ready
to acquiesce.
Thirdly, the electoral umpire, INEC and the security might of the
state needed to be mobilized to ensure that the ruling party makes an inroad
into South-south and captures the Edo and Ondo
top prizes ahead of 2019. That too seemed to have worked well in Edo and Ondo and partially in Rivers.
