SOURCE: Aeroberry.com https://www.aeroberry.com/2018/pdp-news-breaking-news/

Introduction


PDP Nigeria whose acronym means Peoples Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. In fact, it is one of the major political parties in Nigeria. Due to the connection of this political party with the history of democracy in Nigeria from 1999 till date, it is pertinent that we look into how this party started, its founders, mission and vision and some criticism of the party based on its mission and vision.

The origin of PDP
This party was founded  28 July, 1998. It originated from the coming together of like-minded political association at the time such as G-34 and People Democratic Movement PDM.

This was how G-34 started. Nigeria has been under the military rule and dictatorship for many years. Human rights were not respected. Press freedom was being trampled upon. The economy was in a sorry state. Poverty was everywhere in the nation. The rich were getting richer while the poor were getting poorer. The dictator President Sani Abacha was trying to make himself a life military president.

While this sordid state of affairs was holding sway, a group of politicians under the auspices of the All Politicians Summit convened a meeting in 1997 to discuss the way out of what was fast becoming a festering dictatorship. That meeting, led by Dr Alex Ekwueme was brutally dispersed by the security apparati of the Sani Abacha’s regime.

Dr Ekwueme undeterred by the brutish antics of the regime continued rallying key political figures of different ideological persuasions under a new platform called Institute of civil society.

In the midst of all this confusion, a group of political leaders, eighteen of them in the first instance and later thirty-four decided to “dare the lion in his den”. This group known as the G-34 later formed the nucleus and rallying point of the associations that formed what is today, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Some of PDP founding members
Some of the founding members of PDP who were also members of the G-34 which later became PDP are Chief Alex Ekwueme, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Chief Audu Ogbe, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Chief Solomon Lar, Iro Alhaji Abubakar, and Alhaji Dan Musa.

Others are: Professor Ango Abdullahi, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Ambassador Aminu Wali, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Professor Jibril Aminu, Professor Iya Abubakar, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, Chief Barnabas Gemade, Professor Daniel Saror, Dr. Sulaiman Kumo, Iyochia Ayu, Chief Tom Ikimi, Alhaji Isiyaku Ibrahim, Senator Walid Jibril, Dr. Garba Nadama, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chief Abubakar Olusola Saraki, Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, Chief Antony Aneni, Alhaji Musa Musawa, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Professor Jerry Gana, Colonel Ahmadu Ali.

Brief Political History of PDP
In 1998 the party selected former military leader Olusegun Obasanjo as the presidential candidate in the elections of February 1999, with Atiku Abubakar (Governor-Elect of Adamawa State and a former leading member of the Social Democratic Party) as his running mate. The duo went on to win, being sworn-in on 29 May 1999.

In the legislative election held on 12 April 2003, the party won 54.5% of the popular vote and 223 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives, and 76 out of 109 seats in the Senate. Its candidate in the presidential election of 19 April 2003, Olusegun Obasanjo, was re-elected with 61.9% of the vote.

In December 2006 Umaru Yar'Adua (formerly of the People's Redemption Party and the Social Democratic Party) was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling PDP for the April 2007 general election, receiving 3,024 votes from party delegates. His closest rival, Rochas Okorocha, received only 372 votes. Yar'Adua was eventually declared the winner of the 2007 general elections, held on April 21, and was sworn in on May 29, 2007, amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud. In the Nigerian National Assembly election, the party won 260 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives and 85 out of 109 seats in the Senate.

At the PDP's 2008 National Convention, it chose Prince Vincent Ogbulafor as its National Chairman on March 8, 2008. Ogbulafor, who was the PDP's National Secretary from 2001 to 2005, was the party's consensus choice for the position of National Chairman, selected as an alternative to the rival leading candidates Sam Egwu (who was backed by Obasanjo) and Anyim Pius Anyim. All 26 other candidates, including Egwu and Anyim, withdrew in favor of Ogbulafor. Meanwhile, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje was elected as National Secretary.

In 2011, after the People's Democratic Party saw members defect for the Action Congress of Nigeria, some political commentators suspected that the PDP would lose the Presidency. Following PDP candidate Goodluck Jonathan's victory in the 2011 elections, it was reported that there were violent protests from northern youth.

In 2015 presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan (PDP) lost the election of Muhammadu Buhari of APC. Jonathan called him and congratulated him. The first in Nigeria history for a seating president to loose an election, accept the election and congratulate his opponent.

PDP Logo and Slogan
The PDP logo is an umbrella. The umbrella has the green - white - red color on the cover part of the umbrella with the inscription PDP written boldly with black ink on the white-colored section.

The popular slogan for the PDP is "PDP ! Power to the People. Power to the People !  PDP".

Political Ideology
The party has a neoliberal stance in its economic policies and maintains a conservative stance on certain social issues.

 Mission, Vision and Objectives of PDP

The mission, vision and objectives of PDP are as follows:

1. Maintain and preserve the integrity, unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as one indivisible political entity.
2. Ensure genuine restoration, permanent entrenchment and practice of democracy, the rule of law, equity and social justice.
3. Promote national integration and harmonious co-existence of the diverse communities of our society.
4. Build an egalitarian society founded on the principle of freedom, equality and justice.
5. Uphold the independence of the judiciary, a free press, as well as uphold the freedom of speech and of association.
6. Ensure that only competent, dedicated, patriotic and credible candidates are sponsored for elective offices at all levels of governance.
7. Ensure that the programmes of the party at all levels conform at all time with the fundamental objectives and directive of the principles of state policy, as contained in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as conform at all times with ethic, aim and objectives of the constitution of the party.
8. Promote mutual respect for and understanding of the religious, traditional and cultural heritage of the various communities of our nation.
9. Eradicate illiteracy in our society and to promote learning and research, science and technology.
10. Build, promote, sustain and consolidate political economic and social independence and self-respect for all Nigerians.
11. Cooperation with Africans and other nationalist movements and organizations working for the eradication of imperialism, neo- colonialism, racism and to strive relentlessly towards African Unity, as well as greater understanding and cohesion among all peoples of African descent.
12. Cooperate with all members nations in promo- ting the course of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU), the Commonwealth and United Nations Organization (UNO) and other international and regional groupings shall be in the best interest of Nigeria and Africa, and help to find just and peaceful solutions for international disputes.
13. Build a political culture in which all Nigerians are equal members where each contributes according to his ability, where no one person dominates and where, no political party belongs to one individual.
14. Undertake other activities, which in the opinion of the party are conducive to the attainment of the aims of objectives of the party.

As can be gleaned from the above it is the aim of PDP to consolidate democratic culture, promote constitutionality, social justice, and freedom of the mass media, independence of the judiciary, socio-economic self-sufficiency and credible leadership. These objectives are in consonance with the elements of democracy and good governance.

However, the big question is have they lived up to this ?  It is a simple question every Nigerian has a good and correct answer to. The Peoples Democratic Party government laid a foundation of democracy totally different from what they have as their objectives. They messed up our democracy. The foundation of democracy they left behind was one of election rigging, corruption, lack of rule of law and order, disrespect of the judiciary and court order, bloated budget that only enrich the political elites but impoverished the ordinary people.

The Structure and Organs of PDP
Political parties are forms of institutions which possess both formal and informal structures. These structures and organs of political parties help them to effectively aggregate and process the diverse societal demands. Thus, as a matter of practical necessity every political party must possess structures and organs.

The structure and organization of the PDP is hierarchical, arranged from the Ward through the Local Government Area, State, Zones and National level. Based on article 10 of the party’s constitution its organs are constituted as follow (i) Ward Executive, (ii) Ward Congress (iii) Local government Executive Committee (iv) Local Government Area Congress (v) Senatorial District Working Committee (vi) State Caucus (vii) State Working Committee (viii) State Executive (ix) State Congress (x) Zonal Working Committee (xi) National Caucus (xii) National Working Committee (xiii) National Executive Committee (xiv) Board of Trustees (xv) National Convention.

The PDP and Democratic Consolidation
Democratic consolidation is a very important element for good governance. One of the things in politics that enhances democratic consolidation is free and fair elections. With the Peoples Democratic Party government, only little progress was made in the electoral process. We would say It conducted four general elections in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively. Thus, it sustained the nation’s nascent democracy for as long as 16 years. This is first ever in the political history of Nigeria. However, the many years of the PDP rule witnessed a profound assault, rape, debasement, travesty and reversal of democracy. Most of the general elections held under the PDP government were characterized by notorious electoral malpractices. The general election were like warfare with a flurry of intimidation, thuggery, outright violence, widespread electoral irregularities, horse trading, ballot box stuffing with thumb printed ballot papers, ballot box snatching, election rigging, manipulation and falsification of election outcome and announcement of preferred candidates as winners. The outcome of the elections did not reflect the preferences of the electorate rather than the outlook of the PDP government.

Within the party there was also complete disregard for democratic values. Its primaries, conventions and congresses, which are the democratic institutions for nominating party candidates for elections and electing party officials, was a mess and undemocratic. The PDP government witnessed the development of godfatherism, barbarism, personality and military cult of the highest dimension. Horse-trading, browbeating, talk to step aside culture and imposition of preferred candidates of the god-fathers in the party characterized the party primaries, congresses and conventions. Some of the party leaders tell candidates nursing ambition with air of finality to forget it because there is no vacancy for their desired political offices. These situations in the party no doubt progressively restrict the democratic space and denude the nation of credible leaders required for providing good government.

PDP and Opposition Parties
The PDP government liberalized the political space for opposition. The Nigerian party registration laws were reformed. This paved way for the growth of political parties from 3 in 1999 to 50 in 2007. The processes of governance of the PDP since 1999 have also led to the flowering of mass media and civil society organizations.

Nevertheless, the PDP government was at several times hostile to opposition parties, critics, mass media and civil society groups.

Multiparty system a ploy to consolidate power by PDP
 Granted that the party further liberalized the political space for opposition through development of multiplicity of political parties, the multiparty system, which the party encouraged, was never a liberal imperative for genuine democratic process. Its multiparty system was a ploy to consolidate dominance over opposition parties. It has in fact been contended that the multiplicity of parties turn out to be the undoing of the opposition as it created more chances for different political tendencies finding their voices elsewhere. The strategy was that if the oppositions were not united to fight against the ruling party at the time which was PDP, they will find it hard to flush them out from power since PDP was the biggest party in Nigeria and in Africa.

PDP poaching members of other political parties
 Furthermore, the PDP took advantage of its control of the federal bureaucracy and executive power. Hence, they poached members of the other parties to whittle down their potency. Through the weapon of appointment the PDP broke the ranks of other parties especially the AD and ANPP. Members of the opposition parties who held government appointments found it difficult to resist the temptation of belonging to the ruling PDP.

Also through poaching, the PDP government was able to infiltrate the Nigerian Bodies of Students. The institutions of higher learning which used to be the hotbed of opposition activism with hobnobbing with the PDP appears considerably doused in their fire of activism.

PDP hostility against mass media
 There were also some cases of mistrust and demonstration of hostility against mass media when PDP held federal power. For instance, the African Independent Television station was shut down for its critical comments on the ill-famed third term agenda of the PDP government. Similarly, the PDP government invoked the outdated sedition law against some journalists such as Gbenga Aruleba of the African Independent Television and Rotimi Durojaiye of Daily Independent newspaper for their comments on the state of the Nigeria’s presidential aircraft. But for the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians they would have been convicted.

PDP denial of police permit to opposition parties for rallies
Under the PDP led government, opposition parties have been denied police permit to hold rallies. While police and other security operatives have broken some rallies organized by opposition parties in defiant of police permit. For instance, the CNPP was denied police permit to hold rally in protest of the questionable victory of the PDP in the 2003 general election while the rally that was organized in Kano state without police permit was broken into by the police and the organizers were brutalized and teargas. Former President of the Senate and a former chieftain of the ANPP Chuba Okadigbo died as a result of alleged complications from the ruthless police brutality.

Apart from opposition political parties, the PDP also denied civil society and organized labour opportunities (police permit) to hold rallies in protest of unpopular PDP government policies. During the frequent hike in the prices of petroleum products the PDP government deployed the police to break rallies and protest marches organized by a coalition of the civil society and the organized labour. Many of the protesters were beaten up, arrested and detained by the police for spurious charges.

PDP and Independence of the Judiciary
The judiciary under the PDP government has enjoyed considerable independence from the other branches of government. Some of the major landslide rulings and pronouncements of the Supreme Court in some cases involving the federal government and other levels of government ending in the favor of the latter indicate this. However, the PDP hardly obeys the court ruling on cases involving it and some of its members or the opposition.

Accountability and Transparency
Governance under the PDP witnessed the establishment of several anticrime and corruption commissions such as, the cyber-crime commission, the code of conduct bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC). Although these commissions have served as instruments of restraints on the corrupt tendencies and practices of the public officeholders, their impact is still less than expected at their often public and vocal launch. Corruption still undermines economic policies and the efficient functioning of state institutions. In fact, there is the perception that the anti-crimes and corruption laws are not evenly applied to all Nigerians. There has been the colony of the untouchables never subjected to scrutiny. Moreover, the anti-graft crusade has been suborned as instrument for witch-hunt, blackmail, intimidation and political vendetta.

Conclusion

Some PDP politicians today complain about how the recent ruling party, APC, is doing badly. But are they different from APC ? Like people would say, PDP is no different from APC. Basically, many of the founders of APC were disgruntled politicians who moved from PDP to APC. They are one and the same thing. This is the reason why many people are talking of a “Third Force” – a party completely different from PDP and APC. The problem is how can this new party be formed. Will the opposition parties apart from PDP be ready to come together to form this ‘Third Force’ ? Even if they are ready, how credible are the politicians in these opposition parties ? Like I would always say, we need a revolution in Nigeria to save us from PDP and APC. PDP laid the messy foundation and APC is just continuing where they stopped.

I thought they said Igbo man was not the pioneer of PDP

I can clearly see GOODLUCK jonathan, FAYOSE and WIKE names are not among the founding father of PDP, but their names is among the people that kill and buried PDP.