’On Your Mandate We Shall Stand’

The refrain, ‘On Your Mandate We Shall Stand’, has become a worn-out catchphrase often mouthed by supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Last week, I came across a video clip of some members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) competing to outdo one another in singing the refrain. As the ongoing All Progressives Congress (APC) convention concludes today or tomorrow at the latest, we don’t need an oracle to predict the outcome of the event. It has been a bazaar of endorsements of the Lagos City Boy from various zonal conventions of the party. The soaring popularity of the former Lagos governor has emptied many parties of their members who, in the past, had called on God to rain fire and brimstone if they left their parties. Devoid of shame and dishonour, these unashamed politicians have gone back to their yesterday’s vomit, claiming to have seen a new vision of Tinubu leading the way to the Promised Land.

Waning Opposition    

In the face of ongoing attacks in some parts of the country, the storm of opposition is increasingly being diminished, with the anti-Tinubu camp threatening to boycott the 2027 polls to portray the election as questionable. The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and other groups have called for the amendment of the Electoral Act, stressing that the present one signed by Tinubu does not guarantee transparency in the electoral system. If millions stay away from the polls, will that invalidate Tinubu’s votes? Instead of galvanising support from the electorate, who are not supportive of some of the policy direction, the opposition has too much on its hands to unite and wrest power from the incumbent administration.

The race to fall in love with and align with the Tinubu camp ahead of the 2027 polls has attracted no fewer than 30 governors, with widening prospects of more defections to the ruling party.  Former president Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have been left in the lurch amid the collateral damage inflicted on the opposition. Between the two men who once contested on a joint ticket in 2019, the prospects of repeating the joint ticket of 2019 are increasingly becoming narrow, with supporters of Obi threatening to withdraw their support if the former 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) decides to become running mate to any of the presidential candidates.

For the former Customs officer and deputy to President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999-2007, next year could turn out to be his last opportunity to contest. If he does not get it this year, his chances in future contests may be severely diminished on account of his age. Obi, the politician whose ambition was stoked by dedicated online youths who worship at the altar of the internet, 2027 is a deciding moment. His decision to abandon the LP for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has not brightened his chances in next year’s general elections. In his search to recapture the fervour of his presidential dream, he has realigned with strange political bedfellows who truncated his 2023 dream of becoming president. The path to becoming president is fraught with compromises. Obi is leaving nothing to chance in plotting for tomorrow’s victory.

Opposition’s Wingless Platform 

Less than nine months to the polls, the opposition is running on just one wing. Bereft of the strategies of 2013 and 2014 that led to the political consummation of political marriage among various platforms that later emerged as the APC, the present opposition is without a strategist. Those who want to wrest power from Tinubu are acutely aware that they lack the presence of a strategic thinker and deep pockets filled to the top, but a bottomless pit to dislodge Tinubu.  El-Rufai, the chief proponent of the same-faith ticket, has vowed to dislodge the man he imposed on the country. However, the capacity of the former governor to fulfil his self-imposed mandate of emancipating the country from the Tinubu-led administration is suffering irreparable damage following his current trial over allegations of corruption while serving as governor. As if to serve as a prologue to something that is to come, his mouth has been shut by the anti-graft agencies for nearly two months since he honoured the invitation of the EFCC. Relief may not come El-Rufai’s way, described by many as the brainbox of the opposition, as pending suits in various courts may weaken his power to unleash his anti-Tinubu venom.

Undemocratic Victory

Those thronging to the APC are doing so, not because they love the party, but because they are joining to secure victory in 2027. Those shouting ‘On Your Mandate We Shall Stand’ are not in love with Tinubu; they are only screaming out to attract victory. With an opposition that is Dead on Arrival (DOA), the transformation of multi-party democracy is set to become a one-party system. The collapse of opposition and the rise of incumbency power are outcomes of the winner-takes-all political system.

Winning the election in 2027 is a process that grants the winner an opportunity to serve the people. So many issues confronting the nation remain unsolved, just as the renewed wave of insecurity is ripping across the country. Advancing the cause of democracy is only possible when we encourage opposition to survive and stand up to its true mandate: to be the alternative voice.  Democracy in the midst of mass destruction of lives and property represents a grave danger for both the country and its citizens. For democracy to make sense, improving living conditions remains the basic objective of governance.  Hailing a political leader to seek support in future elections is not an end in itself. The day after the electoral victory may turn out to be a challenge insurmountable. Democracy is sustained by ideals and service to the electorate, and not through choruses that are mouthed by praise singers desperate for re-election.