2023: What Nigerians are saying about structured, ‘structureless’ political parties

By Adeleye Kunle

As the 2023 general elections approach, one big topic in national discourse has been that of the leading political parties and their candidates, especially the presidential flagbearers.

The more established political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and their members have often dismissed the smaller parties as mere noisemakers and often used the term ‘structureless parties’ to describe them.

Some presidential candidates, for instance, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, is said to have spread his structure to all corners of the country, and if he were to be rewarded for his gigantic political popularity, the other candidates would simply declare him the winner even before the polls.

This, but might not be in proportion, goes to the PDP and its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku, a former Vice President, was the main opposition presidential candidate in 2019. The former Nigerian Customs Service officer is not new to the politics of Nigeria. Atiku and PDP are very confident they are returning to power at the level in 2023 and see APC, not any other party, as their only impediment.

Looking at the number of Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members, and House of Assembly members elected under their political parties, the APC and PDP find it difficult to even think of any other political parties. Naturally, they do not only believe in their structures, but they rely on them.

However, smaller political parties such as the Labour Party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, among others, believe that the ordinary Nigerians are their structure. According to them, the narrative has changed. They believe that the people will decide who will pilot the nation’s affairs for the next four years and not the politicians themselves. These political parties think 2023 will be a different ball game