by Nij Martin
In Nigerian politics, few pilgrimages carry the symbolic weight of a journey to the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta. For the newly elected leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by factional Chairman Kabiru Turaki, this was the essential first stop after their convention. Their closed-door meeting with former President Obasanjo was more than a courtesy call; it was a deliberate, multi-layered strategy to address the party’s existential crises and plot a path back to relevance. The PDP’s eager courtship of Obasanjo reveals a party grappling with a crisis of legitimacy, discipline, and identity, desperately seeking an anchor in its past to secure its future.
At its core, the visit is a quest for legitimacy and symbolic blessing. Obasanjo, despite his famous 2015 letter tearing up his PDP membership card, remains the most consequential figure associated with the party’s golden era—its only two-term president who oversaw its period of undisputed dominance. For a party leadership emerging from a fractious convention and battling internal factions, securing a photo-op and counsel from “Baba” is a potent tool for internal consolidation. As Turaki stated, they came to “introduce ourselves” and thank him for “laying the foundation for democracy to grow in Nigeria.” This narrative frames the new executives as legitimate heirs to a proud lineage, attempting to borrow Obasanjo’s towering stature to solidify their own shaky authority within the party.
Beyond symbolism, the PDP is explicitly seeking Obasanjo’s trademark medicine: strict discipline. The party’s greatest affliction since 2015 has been rampant internal rebellion, impunity, and serial defections. Obasanjo’s message, as relayed by National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong, was a direct prescription for this ailment: “He practically and particularly said that we can’t allow indiscipline; that indiscipline destroys everything.” This public endorsement of a disciplinary crackdown arms the Turaki-led NWC with a powerful justification to rein in recalcitrant members. By framing their internal reform agenda as an obedience to Obasanjo’s wisdom—“He tasked us to carry on and soldier on, but we should keep discipline as the core”—they seek to deter the factionalism that has crippled the party.
Furthermore, the pilgrimage is a tactical audition for a broader coalition. Obasanjo is no longer just a PDP man; he is a cross-party elder statesman whose criticism carries weight with a segment of the disillusioned electorate and could influence other political blocs. By engaging him, the PDP is subtly testing the waters for a potential endorsement or, at minimum, positioning itself as the viable receptacle for the anti-APC sentiment Obasanjo often embodies. Turaki’s declaration that “PDP is battle-ready for 2027” and that “the APC is now more worried than ever” is a message aimed as much at Obasanjo and the public as it is at party faithful.
However, this strategy is fraught with irony and risk. Obasanjo is the man who famously declared, “The PDP is a party I founded, but I’m not a member of any party.” His value lies partly in his perceived independence. Can the PDP truly reclaim the Obasanjo legacy without the Obasanjo loyalty? The visit also highlights the party’s nostalgia trap—an implicit admission that its current generation of leaders lacks the gravitas to inspire on its own, forcing a reliance on a figure from its past.
In the final analysis, the PDP’s rush to Abeokuta is a calculated move born of profound weakness and strategic necessity. They seek Obasanjo’s blessing for legitimacy, his mantra of discipline for internal healing, and his stature for external mobilization. As the former president told them, “Things are not beyond repair. Soldier on… you are doing very well.” Whether this pep talk from the “oracle” translates into a coherent, disciplined, and electable opposition remains the unanswered question. The PDP isn’t just visiting an elder statesman; it is visiting a mirror of its former self, hoping the reflection will show a path forward rather than just a reminder of what was lost.