Before now, I have never publicly identified with any political party because I felt none of the parties are ideologically driven. Party for me should be a bureaucratic extension of political philosophies. But majority of our politicians are not driven by ideals but by interests, that explains why it’s easy for them to cross carpet from one party to another like change of clothing. Not even the badbelle supporters that are united to see Arsenal exit from Europa league change support for different team playing against Arsenal like them.

However, as our democracy advances, the ideologies of the two major political parties are becoming bolder and clearer. I used to be a proponent of vote anybody across party, not any more. Party do matter because at the very core of each party lies what each of them truly believe in.
The Mohammadu Buhari led APC has shown that the party greatly lean towards the left (socialism). They love welfarist policies. It is the very foundation on which the party was built. Buhari’s socialist party promised prosperity, equality and security but delivered poverty, misery and tyranny. Equality was however achieved in bit only in the sense that everyone are becoming equal in wailing. This scenario isn’t new in the world, it is the kind of thing that have been seen over and over again in places that socialism has been practiced in history, with Venezuela being the latest example. Socialism may show early signs of success and appeal, for example the ideal of sharing money to trader in the market for flexing seem noble. But any accomplishments gained quickly fade as the fundamental deficiencies of central planning emerge. It is the initial illusion of success that gives government intervention its seductive appeal. In the long run, socialism has always proven to be a formula for tyranny and misery.
Buhari fed on dubious poverty reduction schemes and it has become a pathway to siphoning the country’s wealth. The party embraces socialist policies that require unsustainable huge state spending with the disguise of providing free infrastructure and social services rather than liberal reforms that will lift economic responsibilities off government’s shoulder. For Buhari and his party, individual rights should be replaced with total government control, regulation of business and the natural order of risk and reward should be ignored. Buhari used the Social Intervention Program to borrow staggering loans from China only to spend a small portion of it on the actual project, this is evident by the mal-nutrition food given to pupils in the name of school feeding program and the majority of the money are being ferried in Bullion vans to Bourdilion avenue on election night and others are stalk in private foreign accounts. Among the damning consequences of Buhari welfarist policies are a failed heath system, a dysfunctional educational system and a large debt.

Buhari and APC business policies and socialist programs have supervised the collapse of the economy and the Human Developmental Indexes of Nigeria are all in the negative. Millions of jobs were lost due to hostile business environment and many millions of people creeped into the poverty level in 3 years. For Buhari and his party, bridging the gap between the rich and the poor is not by creating robust and large middle class but by destroying the middle class and reducing the rich to the standard of the poor instead of raising the poor to meet the standard of the rich.

Worse than the destruction of the economy is Mr Buhari’s attack on success and the pseudo war class he has declared between the rich and the poor. ‘You must be corrupt to be able to own two cars’, ‘live within your means’, ‘how can a chief justice be a millionaire, he must be a thief’, all these he has insinuated in actions and words. Just like all socialist leaders, Buhari created an enemy for the poor, he made them believe that their conditions are like this because a certain rich man in Nnewi or Abuja has looted away their own share of cake . He made them begrudge success and he promoted abject poverty and lack as honorable virtues. Poverty and mediocrity is a sign of honest living he has pushed into the Nigerian psyche. Who else noticed the primary school Buhari’s polling unit was located? The place was dilapidated, no electricity, not painted, not plastered, that is the backyard of where the most powerful man in Africa hails from. That to him is a sign of integrity and it isn’t a failure. A caption of a picture of Mrs Aisha Buhari coming out from a mud house reads “this is the family house of Buhari in Daura”, the picture was shared by one of APC’s campaign FB accounts and a lot of APC supporters were hailing and commending. Such is how low Buhari has reduced the thinking of many people who now believe that there is something glorious about such a lifestyle. This wouldn’t have been painful if Buhari was actually poor, Buhari is a millionaire in dollar worth over 80million dollars according to WikiLeaks finding. But his deceit and fake life has made many poor people think that he is one of them. Poverty has been weaponized by Buhari led APC party, their hidden motto is keep the people perpetually depended on government, give them handouts and take away their minds and reasoning. It is not surprising that the latest WAEC ratings have APC controlled states and states Buhari got his million votes at the bottom of the table.

I supported the PDP wholeheartedly in the last presidential and national election because Atiku led PDP created an alternative party and nation. Atiku envisaged a nation that is entirely different from Buharis Nigeria. A Nigeria with a smaller but efficient government, a Nigerian economy that encourages free market and enterprise, a nation that promotes unity and rewards hard work. A true capitalist society that actually drive growth and development. A country with less of government’s control of the people. A country that the government will not attack wealth but create wealth, a government that knows what it takes to improve the lives of the people, create a middle class, nurtures the human spirit, inspires human creativity by providing a powerful system of incentives that promote hard work, thrift and efficiency. I am proud of my support for that Nigeria, even though the outcome of that election is not what I wanted. I am proud because even though the victory was stolen (which will be reclaimed back from the court), it has deepened my resolves that Atiku has created a party that I will be proud to identify with.

Minus the corruption that is found in both PDP AND APC (even more in APC), I think I have found a party to register as a member, if only PDP stay true to the ideals they ran with in the presidential election.