Is there an Ideological Difference between the PDP and the APC?
It is a popular past time of the Nigerian intellectual to lament about the sameness of the APC and the PDP. This sentiment usually bubbles to the surface after a round of defections by politicians from the PDP to the APC or vice versa. Although lately, the traffic seems to be from PDP to APC.
The Nigerian intellectual looks at the West and see that its parties are divided into the left and right, and they wish that Nigeria could be the same.
Since I am a self avowed member of the Nigerian intellectual class, instead of lamenting, I’ll do one better by coming up with the ideological difference between the APC and the PDP. The difference at this moment is nascent and not so clear cut. But I believe that it is something that any of the parties involved can distill into an ideological stance.
The PDP has a nationalist bent while the APC is more tribal in its orientation. Simply, the APC is tribalist, while the PDP is nationalist.
The nationalism of the PDP took root in its formation. It was formed by the G34, which was a group of Northern and Eastern politicians who were opposed to Abacha’s plan to transition into a civilian president. The G34 allied with the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), founded by the late Shehu Yar’Adua, to form the PDP.
The APC, on the other hand, is an agglomeration of previously existing ethnic political parties (The ACN and the CPC). The CPC, led by Buhari, was basically the party of the Hausa-Fulani, while the ACN, led by Tinubu, was the party of the Yoruba.
You can also see the ethnic coloration in the action of the APC in government. Buhari’s government was dominated by the Hausa-Fulani. The same way the current Tinubu’s government is dominated by the Yoruba.
Meanwhile, when the PDP was in power, Obasanjo’s government was quite nationalistic. The Yar’adua - Jonathan government was less so, but there were still arguments to be made for their national outlook.
Of course, the PDP was a lootocracy. But at least, looting under the PDP crossed beyond ethnic lines. Dasuki shared his looted $2 billion with other corrupt politicians like Bode George, Yerima Abdullahi, Peter Odili, Attahiru Bafarawa, and Ahmadu Ali.
Meanwhile, under Buhari, the looting was primarily within his kinsmen, like Abubakar Malami and Hadi Sirika of Nigeria Airways fame. The Yoruba faction of the APC took the looting in stride. Because like Tinubu said, it would soon be his own turn to have a go at the national cake. And now that he has gotten his hands on it, he and his kinsmen are stuffing it in their collective mouths without remorse.
The ethnic political formation of the APC isn’t new in the country. In fact, this has been how it has always been. Since independence, prominent political parties have always started out as ethnic associations, before metamorphosing into tribal parties.
In the wake of independence, the NPC was for the Hausa Fulani, the AG for the Yoruba, and the NCNC for the Igbos.
To be fair, the NCNC initially started out as a nationalist party. It was so nationalist that even the Alaafin of Oyo was an NCNC stalwart, in opposition to Awolowo’s AG. He was deposed for that.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Awolowo kicked out the NCNC from the Western region by appealing to ethnic solidarity in the 1951 Western Region election. Licking his wounds, Azikiwe would return to East and transform into the Igbo tribal champion.
We would have the same tribal configurations during the second republic. It would have also been the same in the June 12 elections, but the Babangida regime nipped it in the bud and decreed that all politicians must join either of two political parties.
It is also curious to note that Nigeria had the best time ever in its history under the 15 year rule of the nationalist PDP (1999 to 2015). It seems like not being bigoted has its advantages.
For one, you’ll be willing to look for the best of the best to helm affairs, even if they’re not from your tribe. Like the technocrats (El Rufai, Iweala, Ezwkwesili, Soludo, and co) during Obasanjo’s time as president.
The current fourth republic is the longest we have had democracy in Nigeria. It is very likely that with time, the differences between both political parties can become ossified enough for them to have distinct ideologies.
At least that way, it would be harder for politicians to decamp willy nilly, and that would be one less headache for the Nigerian intellectual.
i’ve been reading through the comments and i agree with your sentiments.
still, i have one concern. the “left” and the “right” can’t work as classifications for our political parties whether you consider that socially or economically, but i think any classifications we come up with should have on-the-ground effects on the citizens as evidence of their existence, not just in the pockets the leaders decide they want to line.
and aside from that, do we even need these classifications? we’re already split along tribalistic lines, do we really need ideological (considering tribalism as an ideology) ones too? should we not just pick who can do the job well each election season? (in an ideal nigeria where our votes matter, that is). it feels eerily western to seek fine lines in ideology, not that ideology is a western thing, but you get the point.
i’m not even old enough to vote, so i may not see the full picture, but i look forward to hearing what you have to say
I don't think there's much of an argument to be made for the political ideologies of Nigerian politicians. The parties were not founded with any ideologies in mind. They were founded with political ambition in mind. There is no difference between the APC and the PDP. That is why it's been easy for them to switch at will. More than half of the current APC were in PDP. And, as soon as APC loses its grip on power, they will switch back to whichever is the ruling party at the time. The motivation is greed, not ideology. You only need to look at the bills they pass in the Senate to understand that they are not intellectual enough to have actual political ideologies