PDP and APC — are they the same?

BY OMOLE IBUKUN

As the 2023 elections draw closer, the question on the lips of most Nigerians is whether there could be a political alternative to two major parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC)? Whether it will be possible to have a third force strong enough to drive out both major parties that have failed Nigerians at different times and at different levels? While some believe it’s possible, some are comfortable with just going back to the PDP days. This situation requires that we help one another’s memory so we can make informed decisions and that’s what this article will try to do.

On the 20th of October 2020, there was a Lekki shooting that still hurts many Nigerians who believe that it was ordered by Muhammadu Buhari’s APC government. But as far back as 20th November 1999, there was the Odi massacre which is still hurting many Nigerians who believe that the massacre was ordered by the Olusegun Obasanjo’s PDP government. The present Buhari APC regime has been characterised by protests by doctors, lecturers, students, etc, but the past PDP administrations had more than a dozen strikes of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) too. There was a mass movement of Nigerians against the Buhari APC regime in 2020 during the popular #EndSARS protests, but there was also a mass movement of Nigerians eight years before in 2012 during the Occupy Nigeria protests.

There are ongoing secessionist agitations in the country led by IPOB and Yoruba Nation agitators under this Buhari APC government, but there were secessionist agitations led by the Niger Delta Militants, MASSOB, and OPC under the past PDP administrations too. APC came in with a former military dictator in 2015, but PDP also came in with a former military dictator in 1999. There is police brutality going on presently under Buhari’s APC, but an extra-judicial killing of Muhammed Yusuf began what we know as Boko Haram today during the PDP days. There are repressive laws being passed under the present APC regime to curb free speech and expression and silence the media, but the controversial and repressive Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013 was passed under the Jonathan PDP regime. These are just comparisons on the basis of events and activities that we can easily remember. The similarities cannot be exhausted in one article.

It is impossible for two parties and their administrations to have these amount of similarities on the level of activities, events, and policies, but be different in ideologies. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The PDP had the opportunity to put their ideas to test for 16 years yet couldn’t do anything different than what the APC has done for the past 6 years now.

Another clear evidence of the lack of difference in the ideology of both parties is the ease with which cross carpeting happens across both parties. Leaders of the PDP have a history with the APC, and leaders of the APC have a history with the PDP.

Atiku Abubakar, PDP’s flagbearer in the last general election, was in PDP between 1999 and 2006, then defected to Action Congress (which later evolved to ACN and became one of the constituent parties of APC), then defected back to PDP in 2009, then defected back to APC in November 2013, then defected back to PDP in November 2017. This back and forth movement was driven by a presidential ambition, but the ease with which he was able to move back and forth underscores the point that APC and PDP are the same ideologically.

Bukola Saraki led some governors out of the PDP into APC in January 2014 and defected back to PDP by August 2018. Aminu Tambuwal shared the same timeline of defections with Saraki. Rotimi Amaechi, a former PDP governor, is now the minister for transportation for the Buhari APC administration. He defected in November 2013. Nasir el-Rufai, a former minister for the Federal Capital Territory under the Obasanjo PDP administration, is presently an APC governor. In the 2016 Edo state elections, Godwin Obaseki was the APC candidate for governor while Ize Iyamu was the PDP candidate for governor, but in the 2020 Edo state elections, Obaseki was the PDP candidate for governor while Iyamu was the APC candidate for governor. This same party swap happened within the space of four years between Senator Dino Melaiye and Senator Smart Adeyemi in their Senatorial District in Kogi State.

What more evidence do we need that both parties are one? The difference between both parties is the difference between six and half a dozen. It is the difference between death by hanging and death by the electric chair.

Yet there is an important ‘difference’ to address. The exchange rate, fuel price, minimum wage are no longer the same as when the PDP held central power at the federal level. The figures of poverty and unemployment are not the same too, but it will be superficial to call this a ‘difference’.

Here is an illustration; Nigerians had 20 pieces of cake before 1999, and PDP came in to steal 10 pieces. Afterward, APC came in to steal the remaining 10 pieces. They both stole. They both stole 10 pieces. But economic figures in 2015 will claim that we still have 10 cakes, and economic figures presently will claim that we have no cakes. Now, does the fact that the economic figures were different in both cases nullify the fact that both thieves equally stole from us? It only means that if APC had come first and PDP came later, PDP would have also left us with nothing since they would be coming for 10 cakes too.

This is just a rough illustration and it does not intend to make a list of all the funds that went missing under both administrations. If I should do that, then I will be measuring the damage that corruption does by the amount stolen or by the frequency. What corruption damages is beyond the economy, it also damages the lives of citizens in all ways.

In the same way, we cannot measure insecurity by the number of people killed or kidnapped in the different administrations. The damage insecurity does is beyond the tragedy of the victims, it also destroys the lives of all citizens in many ramifications. There is no better form of corruption or insecurity. Maybe the PDP was more orderly and organised in their corruption! Maybe the APC’s corruption was rougher! Maybe PDP oversaw insecurity with a sympathetic face that featured a crying session by the then First Lady! Maybe APC oversaw insecurity with an I-don’t-care attitude! Those differences do not change the effect of these similar results on citizens.

The PDP-APC cycle can only be broken if Nigerians organise themselves into a people’s alternative with a manifesto that takes care of the needs and realities of every one of us citizens. A party that is built on the collective intelligence of all of us rather than the individual ambition of some godfather is the way out of this mess. PDP and APC are the same and sticking with them would mean that our country will remain a one-party state in the hands of the same sets of elites.

Getting out of this cycle is the task of all Nigerians for 2023.

Omole Ibukun writes from Abuja, and can be contacted on 09060277591