EDITORIAL: Is PDP on brink of extinction?

A significant political tremor is shaking Nigeria’s opposition landscape, and its epicenter lies in the growing irrelevance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The recent move by a coalition of heavyweight politicians to float a new party, the All Democratic Alliance (ADA)—could be the clearest signal yet that the PDP, once Africa’s largest political party, is gasping for political oxygen.

At the heart of this development is the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG), led by former Senate President David Mark, with notable members including former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi, and former presidential aide Umar Ardo.

On June 19, the coalition’s New Platform Committee (NPC) approved the formation of the ADA and initiated the process to register the party with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Interim party structures are already in place. Chief Akin A. Ricketts has been appointed Protem Chairman, while Abdullahi Musa Elayo will serve as Protem National Secretary. With a manifesto, constitution, logo, and bank account in motion, this isn’t just a protest movement—it’s a carefully calculated departure from the fractured PDP and a clear rejection of its inability to reinvent itself.

But this isn’t just about new branding or political realignment. It is about a crisis of legitimacy and leadership in Nigeria’s opposition, and the PDP is at the center of that failure. Once seen as the natural counterweight to the ruling All Progressives Congress (AP), the PDP has in recent years struggled with internal discord, credibility issues, and electoral underperformance.

Even more telling is the swirling speculation around a potential grand alliance involving Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Nasir El-Rufai—figures who, under different circumstances, might have coalesced under the PDP banner.

Instead, their names are being floated in discussions around forming a new opposition force to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

This coalition effort, if realized, would not just sideline the PDP, it could bury it.
And while the APC dismisses these efforts as doomed, it cannot ignore the reality: Nigerian voters are hungry for credible alternatives. A new, unified opposition party could tap into that discontent—particularly if it projects clarity of purpose, generational appeal, and a platform free of the political baggage that has weighed the PDP down.

In a democracy, parties live or die by their relevance. The PDP must now confront a hard truth: it is no longer the default platform for opposition politics in Nigeria. If it cannot renew itself or forge meaningful partnerships, it risks becoming a historical footnote—overshadowed by a coalition of its former champions.

The emergence of the ADA may be the first step in Nigeria’s next political era. For the PDP, it may be the last chapter.