CHUKS NWEZE from Enugu writes on the dwindling fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South East and raises the question of whether the lone governor of the party in the zone, Peter Mbah, will rise to the occasion of rebuilding the party to its lost glory
PDP’s heydays and dwindling fortunes
Without any doubt whatsoever, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former ruling party when Nigeria returned to civil democracy in 1999, after years of military interregnum, is in deep waters.
Now the party is enmeshed in leadership crisis that has polarized it and many party faithful, including some founding fathers have deserted it for other parties.
In the beginning of civilian democracy in Nigeria in 1999, PDP held sway and had dominance in most states of the federation. For instance, Kogi, Plateau, Benue and Edo states were controlled by governors elected under the umbrella of PDP.
In the South East, it was PDP all the way. It was only some years later that PDP lost Anambra state to All Progressive Grand Alliance, (APGA) with Peter Obi as the first APGA governor in the state.
Since PDP lost Anambra state to APGA, its fortunes began to drastically dwindle to the extent that the party today governs only in Enugu state in the whole five South East states. Today, in Imo and Ebonyi states, the PDP has lost power to the All Progressives Congress (APC), while Labour Party (LP) and APGA are sharing Abia and Anambra apiece.
Because of the swift manner PDP lost power in the South East states to other political parties, Enugu has become the only state where the Umbrella Party still holds the baton of power and thus the governor of Enugu state, Dr. Peter Ndubisi Mbah, has automatically become the leader of the party in the geo-political zone.
Therefore, the expectation is that he should turn the fortunes of the party around to make it attractive and endearing for those who left to return and others come in.
Party faithful and bigwigs that had dumped the party like former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, who was in the Senate on the platform of PDP and the former governor of Enugu state, Barrister Sullivan Chime have kicked the party in the ass and opted for APC. Not only did Chime leave the party, he prophesied that the party was dead and wondered why some people were still there.
Crippling factors of PDP
Chime who relished his victory on the PDP platform then, had boasted that it was the party to beat having been controlling the state from the blast of the whistle in 1999 and had been winning from the National Assembly to governorship, chairmanship and councilorship elections in the state since the current dispensation of democracy.
However, when he completed his eight year reign as a governor, having done two tenures, Chime did not give PDP hope of survival or sustenance but wrote it off as a ‘dead dog’.
Chime was once quoted as saying, “The party is dead. I have to tell my people the truth. I don’t know what those who are there as still doing,” Chime declared when he welcomed hundreds of people that defected to APC in his country home, Udi in Udi local government of Enugu state.
Analysts said it was as if Chime’s declaration or ‘curse’ that brought about the PDP misfortune because before 2023, it controlled Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu states but since Chime’s exit from PDP and his pronouncement, the cookie began to crumble in the PDP that was once the beautiful bride.
Another factor that dwindled PDP’s fortune was the sudden rise of Labour Party in the political arena in the country. Basking under the euphoria of Obidient Movement, coined after the 2023 LP presidential flag bearer, Mr. Peter Obi, the party snatched Abia state and gave it to Labour Party, thereby leaving Enugu state alone with PDP.
Why Mbah may not rebuild PDP
One thing that will make it a hard task for Mbah to rebuild PDP in the South East is the recent rift in the party over the choice of National Secretary of PDP. This crisis has injected a lot of bad blood between supporters of the former National Youth leader, SKE Udeh-Okoye and those of the embattled factional National Secretary Sam Anyanwu.
Anyanwu tried his hands at the governorship of Imo state in 2023 but lost and wanted to come back to continue from where he stopped but the party thought otherwise and chose Udeh-Okoye instead. All the PDP governors and the party hierarchy adopted Udeh-Okoye for the position but Anyanwu would not hear of it hence, the persistence of the crisis.
Because of the crisis created by Anyanwau-Ude-Okoye leadership squabble, it might be difficult as the party leader, for Governor Mbah to make Imo state party faithful to bring their heart to PDP.
So, Mbah will have to work hard as the party leader to mollify Imo state PDP faithful and move the party forward to the extent of snatching power from APC grip come 2027 and subsequent elections.
Another problem Mbah might face as the PDP leader in South East is that he portrays himself more as businessman rather than a politician. However, to perform the role of a unifier, Mbah is supposed to be accommodative, consult widely and reach out to party leaders but he seems not to be doing so at the moment.
Peoples views
The former National Auditor of PDP, Barrister Ray Nnaji cannot see any prospect in Mbah driving PDP to a greater height because of his supposed aloofness. He said Mbah seemed to alienate himself from his people and party members.
“The way the only governor produced by the party in the South-East is playing his politics, it will be difficult for the PDP to survive next election in the region not to talk about expansion.
“Governor Mbah of Enugu state believes that politics should be business. Nobody is against that but you have to balance it. He is doing well with infrastructure. He has improved security and is doing much to restore Enugu as a prime state, but he has to realise that it was sheer luck that made it possible for him to survive the tsunami of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections.
“He is incommunicado. It is when the people can access you that you can feel their pulse. There is this sense of belonging that people have been speaking and discussing with their governor. It is not about money and what they will get from you,” Nnaji alleges.
Nnaji also criticized the way he is handling the issue of taxation in the state which he believes is a big problem, a problem that could rock the boat for PDP because politicians, industrialists, company owners and traders are adversely affected by harsh tax system.
“The level of taxation by his government leaves much to be desired. Taxation is good when the payers do not feel the impact but that is not so with us. It is a negligible percentage of people’s salary but here, we have put it where it is becoming difficult for people to pay.
“So, it is no longer tax, it is a levy. His public relations as governor are very poor. The essence of governance is to open your horizon for people to come in contact with you, to know the feeling of government.
“If you allow power to possess you, you will definitely crash. Don’t be intoxicated by power. Don’t make people afraid of you; they can respect you but once they are afraid of you, you will not get the truth from them. This is the point that Governor Mbah has failed to realise.”
The former PDP National Auditor equally abhorred Mbah’s style of handling local government administration in the state, where he is emasculating and strangulating local government administrators or local government chairmen as they are called.
“Another problem of his government is centralisation of the local governments such that everything about the third tier now comes from government house. It had never happened before even as a local government chairman under the military, it was not so. Under the military, we were guided on how to spend money and the limit expected of us.
“But this is not what we have in Enugu today. They said there is autonomy but what we have is theoretical autonomy. A situation where the government house appoints Secretary to Local Government (SLG) and supervisors have not been appointed leaves much to be desired,” Nnaji laments.
Mbah’s style of good governance
However, optimists said Mbah seemed to be capable of bringing PDP back to the fortune way. This camp believes that good governance will endear the people to the party as he has been delivering the democracy dividends to the state.
Speaking at the PDP Zonal Congress in Enugu in February 2025, Mbah told party faithful that election should not be seen as a do or die affair. He also urged those that won not to see their victory as personal but for all people. “Election is never an end in itself, nor should its victory be seen as a personal triumph,” he said.
He emphasised that the PDP must set an example of good governance, adding, “democracy abhors excuses. The people’s welfare must remain our priority.”
Going by Mbah’s optimism that good governance and commitment to the people’s welfare is the fulcrum of democracy, it is believed that PDP may have it good in future not only in the South East but the entire country. All the party faithful have to do is to rally round their party leader to lead them aright and before long, PDP might win back lost grounds.