Flop of the Week: Nigerians may have to vote the same set of people in 2019

Staright out of Otta, something with ties to President Obasanjo is gearing to be the so-called third force.

An old leopard never changed its spots. This week’s flop of the week goes to a generation of Nigerian statesmen, and their proteges who are hoping to win our votes in 2019 by using the same ruses that we’ve seen many times before.

This week, the Coalition for Nigeria Movement, a coalition of concerned Nigerians, founded by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, was collapsed into the African Democratic Party ahead of the 2019 elections. 

“The leadership of the movement, after detailed examination, wide consultation and bearing in mind the orientation, policies and direction of the movement, have agreed to adopt ADC as its platform to work with others for bringing about desirable change in the Nigeria polity and governance”, Obasanjo said on Thursday, May 10, 2018.

Months ago, OBJ had said he would resign from the coalition if it became involved in partisan politics. That hasn’t happened.

ALSO READ: 7 things Obasanjo said about APC and PDP

Anyone who has followed Nigerian politics will know that the events that led up to this merger and the apparent presentation of ADP as a third force in the coming elections is not new.

 

It was this same model, a seemingly well-meaning merger of interests that led to the creation of APC, the behemoth that now occupies Aso Rock.

This paints a very dire scenario: that while they hope to change the country's course in the coming elections, Nigerians may be left with more of the same, or a choice between the lesser of two, or three evils.

It’s the revised interpretation of the old leopard changing its spots. We’re stuck with the same political class in 2019 and while they may be making efforts at rebranding, nothing's really changed.