Reuben Abati, a former presidential assistant, has cautioned that the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) should not turn into a haven for “internally displaced politicians” in light of the party’s rapid membership growth.
According to Naija News, Abati made the comments on Tuesday while discussing the impact of former presidential aspirants Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso defecting to the party on ARISE Television’s Morning Show program.
He claims that the party’s membership has increased dramatically as a result of the recent incident, going from roughly 9.4 million to over 10 million, setting it up to be a significant opposition force before the 2027 elections.
However, Abati issued a warning that the party’s structure and ideological coherence shouldn’t be compromised by the flood of lawmakers.
According to the seasoned journalist, NDC needs to interact with the populace in order to establish a fundamental agreement with Nigerians.
“Mr. Peter Obi and Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso joining the NDC has changed the momentum in the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, led by Senator Seriake Dickson,” he declared.
“Now, all of a sudden, the NDC is the lovely bride. However, I think that Nigeria is a really fascinating nation.
The NDC might even become the main opposition party, but it shouldn’t turn into an IDP camp, as I warned in the back of Today’s newspaper today. That is a camp for politicians who have been internally displaced.
“I stated yesterday that the membership register and population have increased to almost 9.4 million. It had surpassed 10 million as of this morning.
Therefore, a variety of politicians who have been internally displaced are vying for the IDP camp, which the NDC is probably going to become.
“I observed some claiming that the party lacks a manifesto. Yes, it has a website that lists the following: transportation, agriculture, rule of law, and service to the people. However, every political party will use these epigrammatic phrases.
In addition to ensuring that it doesn’t turn into an IDP camp, the NDC must involve the populace at the level of guaranteeing that it has a fundamental contract with the Nigerian people.
And even though everyone in the APC has tried to just discredit the party, I believe that the emergence of the NDC is a wake-up call for the ruling party, the APC.
It implies that there is no way to repress opposition in this nation. Naturally, they will appear somewhere else if you try to shut them off in the PDP after closing them down in ADC.
“And we anticipate that the political contestation leading up to the 2027 process will be competitive and that the people will be given the chance to make informed decisions, as that is the essence of democracy, rather than being offered a fair alternative.
“I believe that both Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso brought a different kind of heft, peace, and momentum to the NDC, but there will be more interesting episodes ahead, not just this.”
