Best sprinters began first with wobbly baby-steps. The Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC went into the primary election barely five months into its formation. The party was unknown three to four months into its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, but within weeks, after its presidential flag bearer H.E Peter Obi boarded the party’s flight, a move many observers say was very timely, NDC had an overwhelming influx seconded by the choice of an equally popular running mate in the person of H.E Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Within weeks, a previously obscure and unknown no-dog of a political party, became not a lame duck or an underdog but a frontline presidential contender with the political party’s server and website crashing because it was not built to handle the level of pressure and wave of membership registration surge it started receiving. All of a sudden, NDC became a national political party with existing political movements and structures collapsing into it and struggling to find space within the new metamorphosis.

The problems encountered during the party primaries were therefore expected as the young political party commendably handled the odds of the primaries fairly well, given that the party that went to the primaries was not the party that had been registered five months earlier. The new political delight that emerged from the political party that was registered five months earlier had less than two months to pull the primaries off. The new toast called NDC is still emerging and will yet go through more crucibles that will further strengthen, define and redefine it.

NDC’s strength as a political party was stretched and tested and where it was overwhelmed, outcomes were rightly questioned and contested but that is the very nature of organic growth. The party going forward would have to revisit its drawing board, realign, make amends, self-correct, readjust and better prepare for the much more demanding goal of winning the general elections.

The general elections is a much more bigger goal. Harmonising the party and reconciling dissidents, disaffections, disputes and fallouts of the primaries is the immediate task of the political party’s leadership. There are many things yet to be done. This is an opportunity for the leadership of the party to show their mettle by being able to galvanise all the forces of opposition that collapsed into the NDC for the primary purpose of winning the general elections in 2027.

Surprisingly, the NDC seem to have been rattled by the questionable judgment of a court setting aside its earlier judgement that compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to register it. The said judgement mandates that the party should be de-registered. Some have said that the judgement in itself is a good omen for the judiciary in that it sets a precedence for courts to have the courage to correct themselves where they earlier erred. However, a position is held that the Nigerian judicial system is structured to self-correct hierarchically. It provides for judgments obtained in Magistrate courts to be upturned, reversed or upheld by a High Court. In turn the Appeal Court seats over judgments of high courts while the Supreme Court, so named is the final decision making organ of government in all matters relating to disputes, concerns, cases and judgments.

This being noted, the NDC should wake up to the fact that to become a formidable political party, they should preempt and anticipate much more difficult situations and challenges along the path to political victory. To seem alarmed and surprised at obstacles such as this and many others to come is uncalled for. The party must be set as a flint to its objective and nothing short of that.

Rex E. Odoemenam