Politics, Political Parties and Politicians by Lawson Akhigbe

From 1999 to 2015, the PDP was less a political party and more a continental shelf — wide, immovable, and seemingly permanent. Joining it felt like acquiring political citizenship; leaving it felt like renouncing oxygen. Power wasn’t contested between parties; it was a gladiator arena within the PDP. The fiercest battles were not between ideological rivals but between factions armed with entitlement, ambition, and premium-grade godfatherism.

Then came the northern political charisma — or perhaps more accurately, the northern political entitlement — to the PDP presidency. Between zoning anxieties, unspoken agreements, and spoken disagreements, the PDP’s internal equilibrium tilted. A coalition of interests, grievances, and opportunism converged to form the APC, which ultimately took the 2015 general elections. With that, the political drama entered its second act.

Suddenly, the PDP became a leaking ship. Politicians fled in droves to the APC — some galloping, others somersaulting — each seeking relevance, survival, or simply the next buffet table. Those who remained didn’t necessarily do so out of loyalty; many stayed behind as fifth columnists. Their mission: weaken the PDP from within, negotiate their betrayals, and secure soft landings in the APC with the finesse of political acrobats.

The moral of this story is blunt: Nigerian party politics is not policy-driven. It’s not ideological. It is, at its core, a transactional marketplace for personal gain — often at the expense of the public good.

The constitutional provisions meant to discourage cross-carpeting have been defeated not by ingenuity, but by sheer volume of impunity. The breach is not the exception; it’s the operating system.

And as for historical lessons? The crises of 1966 hold little relevance in 2025. Today’s battlefield is different. Nigeria’s political class has mutated, the public has evolved, and the institutions have… well, mostly stood still. Time itself may be the only effective teacher left. With growing public disquiet, economic strain, and a population increasingly vocal online and offline, a course correction may eventually become inevitable — not because politicians suddenly become patriotic, but because the system itself may no longer tolerate the weight of its contradictions.

Until then, the political circus continues — with familiar performers, recycled scripts, and an audience that knows the tricks too well.