The elections are here again! The political atmosphere is fast gathering momentum and the entire landscape is covered with all manners of posters, banners and signboards, all proclaiming the new political messiahs that Nigerians had been waiting for.
All the national print and broadcast media are already awash with headline news of campaign plans of the major political parties, of plans by the incumbents in collusion with the police and INEC to rig the coming elections; accusations and counter-accusations of parties buying off voters cards from the voters and so on and so forth.
All these are nothing but the usual skirmishes of the impending political battle which will be duly joined in February.
In all of this, the important thing is for the electorate to keep their sanity in the midst of the confusing electoral campaign noises around them and cast their votes aright.
But do the Nigerian electorate have the right information and knowledge that can enable them cast their votes aright in the coming elections? From even a casual interaction with or observation of the ordinary Nigerian voter, it is most doubtful whether majority of them do.
Unfortunately, the political parties themselves do not help matters in this regard. The most important function of a political party is the education of the electorate concerning its economic vision and plans, planned solution to current mass unemployment, creative policies for integrating the diverse peoples of the country into one coherent and united nation etc.
But it would appear that Nigerian parties do not realise the need to take their political education responsibilities seriously. The parties may also be ignoring that aspect of their function because they consider embarking on such task not cost effective.
Where the majority of the electorate do not or cannot understand the dynamics of the relevant political questions, it will be far fetched to expect them to comprehend the right political answers.
So it is understandable if the electioneering campaigners took the short-cut to mass votes by playing up common inanities such as ethnic and religious differences among the people.
However, for the benefit of the negligible few who are not too far lost in the pursuit of igni-fatuus that the politicians are dangling before them as campaign promises, a few words would be said to call attention to what voters should lay emphasis on in deciding where to cast their decisive votes in the coming elections.
In our considered view, three important issues that Nigerians should carefully consider before making a choice between the two major political parties (PDP and APC) in the coming elections are:
i) Which of the two cares more for the welfare and well-being of the Nigerian people?
ii) Which of the two can be more trusted with the husbandry of the national resources? and
iii) Which of the two parties possesses a leadership with stronger moral standing and political will to confront the economic and political challenges facing Nigeria today?
Fortunately, the two main parties possess performance track records which can form an objective basis for comparison.
The PDP held national power for sixteen years between 1999 and 2015 before it was dethroned by the APC which has been in power for about three and half years now.
A careful examination of the two administrative periods in terms of socio-economic policies initiated and executed will indicate which of the two had cared more for the welfare and well-being of the Nigerian citizens and thus deserves the people’s support in the coming elections.
Electricity is one the most important requirements of any modern country. Its adequate production, transmission and distribution is an absolute necessity social progress and economic development.
For the sixteen unbroken years of the PDP regime, no appreciable addition was made to the 3000 megawatts of electricity that the party inherited from the military regime in 1999. For the sixteen years of the PDP government which spent around $16 billion on the development of electric power for the country, total power generation around this period hovered between 3500 and 4000 megawatts.
No wonder that most industrial enterprises that were formerly domiciled in Nigeria moved to our neigbouring countries where they could better power their industries.
In comparison, there had been a noticeable increase in power generation since the coming of the APC government in 2015. Power generation is currently around 7000 megawatts and it is said by the time the formerly abandoned Mambila Power Plant comes on stream later in 2019, power generation in Nigeria may be nearing 10,000 megawatts.
This within one four-year term of APC government during which period the revenue from crude oil had drastically reduced owing to a fall in the price of oil in the world market.
Thus, in this all-important area of electricity, there is no gainsaying the fact that the difference is clear between the performances of the two parties in government.
The same conclusion can be reached when we compare the performances of the APC and PDP in the building of vital and basic economic infrastructure which are fundamental for national economic growth and development such as roads and railways, Ajaokuta steel complex etc.
What Nigerians must always realise is that an economy can only grow and develop to the extent that the managers are determined, disciplined and ready to do the needful.
The needful at this moment in Nigeria is to build strong infrastructure for Agriculture, Manufacturing and Transportation. There are no two ways about it and there is no magic wand to bring economic prosperity except we do these things.
That is what the current Buhari Government has been trying to do ; the journey may appear slow but we are on the right track. Apart from tackling the basic economic infrastructure problem as earlier mentioned, the government has also been attending to the existing mass poverty through its home-grown school feeding, trader moni and other small loans programmes targeted at the poor masses.
Nothing can compare to all these during the PDP sixteen year era. As regards the safety and careful husbandry of our national financial resources in the hands of the PDP and the APC, most Nigerians surely know which of the two can be trusted.
The prudent handling of national resources has enabled the APC to accomplish more in three and a half years than the PDP in 16 years in roads and rail construction, electricity etc. During its 16 years, the PDP promoted corruption to its all-time high so much so that the party could not even complete its national party headquarters throughout the period despite raising billions for the project.
This singular fact speaks volume about the party’s prudence in handling the national resources. That is perhaps the main reason why, inspite of the petrol-dollar windfall during the PDP era, nothing tangible can be shown as national achievement.
Recently, the chairman of the party apologized for the party’s financial malfeasance during their time in power, but that is not enough reason for Nigerians to grant them another opportunity so soon after the havoc they wrought on the nation during their sixteen year reign. A leopard cannot suddenly change its spots.
In terms of the moral calibre of the leadership of the two parties, the APC is far superior to the PDP.
It has been erroneously posited that because of the cross-carpeting or decamping that had been witnessed from the two parties in recent times, the two parties are therefore the same and thus one is not better than the other. It may appear so but in reality, it is not so.
The core leadership of the APC is made up of people who are dye- in- the wool progressives who had remained in the progressive camp since they entered public life. These are the ones that determined party direction, party manifestoes and programmes.
Among such people in APC are Chief Bisi Akande, Bola Tinubu, Buhari and other stalwarts of the party. And because politics is game of number you cannot reject people who want to join your party even if you doubt their loyalty.
The PDP also has its core conservative leadership which determines what the party is today. From the antecedents of the two leaderships, there is no gainsaying that the APC should be preferred and I urge Nigerians to choose that party if they truly desire economic development and prosperity.
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