How PDP still rules Nigeria
NaijaRock
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Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday February 15, 2016 at 17:43:20:
The People's Democratic Party of Nigeria may not be holding administrative power at the center for now but they still control Nigeria's economy by controlling the richest states in Nigeria which are the oil producing states based in the Niger Delta Area or Southern Nigeria.The PDP has been ruling Nigeria since 1999 after a return to civilian rule and it was President Olusegun Obasanjo who was the first beneficiary of the PDP's victory into Federal power. The PDP ruled Nigeria by controlling the Federal government and a majority of the 36 states for 16 years since they were in power from 1999 till 2015. They lost control of the administrative power at the Federal level in 2015 to a relatively new opposition party which was formed by a combination of many opposition parties and former PDP politicians.The Obasanjo administration lasted for 8 years after which he handed power to a northerner in the person of Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2007 but he died in 2010 after which his Vice named Goodluck Jonathan became President. Yaradua was from Northern Nigeria while Jonathan was from Southern Nigeria particularly from the oil rich Niger Delta region which has been contributing the most to Nigeria's income.President Goodluck Jonathan took office in 2010 after the death of Musa Yaradua and in 2011, when the tenure of his predecessor was to expire, he ran again for office against a retired Military General named Muhammad Buhari and won the popular votes that added a 4 year extension to his office as President. This allowed the PDP to stay in power at the Federal level for an unbroken record of 16 years before another Presidential election was held in 2015.In 2015, a Presidential election was expected to be held again by May and major opposition parties now fused together to form the APC whose aim was to win power from the PDP. Many powerful PDP members such as serving governors and Federal lawmakers betrayed the PDP by switching camp to the APC and this helped the APC come into office at the Federal level.The 2015 General election was close as the PDP and APC Presidential candidates split Nigeria into almost 2 halves with many from Southern Nigeria supporting the incumbent while many from Northern Nigeria supported the APC. The APC candidate finally won by getting over 15 million votes which was about 2.6 million votes more than what the PDP candidate got but it was not in any of the major oil producing states of Nigeria.The oil producing states of Nigeria which are considered among the richest and most economically viable includes Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. Others include Imo, Abia, Anambra and Ondo states which are states in Southern Nigeria where the PDP also did well. If not for the fact that the South West of Nigeria which was mostly dominated by the Yorubas had not made a strong alliance with the APC and being a strong hold of the opposition, the PDP would have also won in that area but they did fairly well there.The richest and economically vibrant oil producing states in Southern Nigeria voted massively for the PDP and despite the numerous court cases and petitions at election tribunals which the APC candidates have tried to use to their favour, the PDP still emerged victorious and are more likely to keep controlling those areas for the long term.The 2015 General election divided Nigeria mostly into north and south, rich and poor, Christian vs Muslim and despite the fact that they may have lost Federal power in terms of administrative power at the center, they still rule Nigeria by controlling the politics in the oil producing region.The Crude oil which comes from the Niger Delta makes up to over 80% of the Nigerian government's revenue and income from this oil sector is shared among the 3 tiers of government and with extra benefits(Oil derivation benefits) given to the states in that oil producing Niger Delta and it has helped keep their economy growing stronger than many states in Northern Nigeria.
The People's Democratic Party of Nigeria may not be holding administrative power at the center for now but they still control Nigeria's economy by controlling the richest states in Nigeria which are the oil producing states based in the Niger Delta Area or Southern Nigeria.The PDP has been ruling Nigeria since 1999 after a return to civilian rule and it was President Olusegun Obasanjo who was the first beneficiary of the PDP's victory into Federal power. The PDP ruled Nigeria by controlling the Federal government and a majority of the 36 states for 16 years since they were in power from 1999 till 2015. They lost control of the administrative power at the Federal level in 2015 to a relatively new opposition party which was formed by a combination of many opposition parties and former PDP politicians.The Obasanjo administration lasted for 8 years after which he handed power to a northerner in the person of Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2007 but he died in 2010 after which his Vice named Goodluck Jonathan became President. Yaradua was from Northern Nigeria while Jonathan was from Southern Nigeria particularly from the oil rich Niger Delta region which has been contributing the most to Nigeria's income.President Goodluck Jonathan took office in 2010 after the death of Musa Yaradua and in 2011, when the tenure of his predecessor was to expire, he ran again for office against a retired Military General named Muhammad Buhari and won the popular votes that added a 4 year extension to his office as President. This allowed the PDP to stay in power at the Federal level for an unbroken record of 16 years before another Presidential election was held in 2015.In 2015, a Presidential election was expected to be held again by May and major opposition parties now fused together to form the APC whose aim was to win power from the PDP. Many powerful PDP members such as serving governors and Federal lawmakers betrayed the PDP by switching camp to the APC and this helped the APC come into office at the Federal level.The 2015 General election was close as the PDP and APC Presidential candidates split Nigeria into almost 2 halves with many from Southern Nigeria supporting the incumbent while many from Northern Nigeria supported the APC. The APC candidate finally won by getting over 15 million votes which was about 2.6 million votes more than what the PDP candidate got but it was not in any of the major oil producing states of Nigeria.The oil producing states of Nigeria which are considered among the richest and most economically viable includes Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. Others include Imo, Abia, Anambra and Ondo states which are states in Southern Nigeria where the PDP also did well. If not for the fact that the South West of Nigeria which was mostly dominated by the Yorubas had not made a strong alliance with the APC and being a strong hold of the opposition, the PDP would have also won in that area but they did fairly well there.The richest and economically vibrant oil producing states in Southern Nigeria voted massively for the PDP and despite the numerous court cases and petitions at election tribunals which the APC candidates have tried to use to their favour, the PDP still emerged victorious and are more likely to keep controlling those areas for the long term.The 2015 General election divided Nigeria mostly into north and south, rich and poor, Christian vs Muslim and despite the fact that they may have lost Federal power in terms of administrative power at the center, they still rule Nigeria by controlling the politics in the oil producing region.The Crude oil which comes from the Niger Delta makes up to over 80% of the Nigerian government's revenue and income from this oil sector is shared among the 3 tiers of government and with extra benefits(Oil derivation benefits) given to the states in that oil producing Niger Delta and it has helped keep their economy growing stronger than many states in Northern Nigeria.