Lately, Nigerian political parties are a lot like Lagos' iconic yellow danfo minibuses—swerving erratically, bulging as too many riders squeeze inside, their drivers' clinging vise-like to both steering wheel and wads of naira notes. Monday was one such political rush hour, when 37 parties and a faction of president Muhammadu Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party agreed to work together to unseat him February elections. Should Buhari be worried or will this pact—like a Lagos go-slow—generate a lot of noise but no forward momentum?
Impressive at first glance, this new anti-Buhari coalition is deceptively broad and not especially deep. At its core is the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), which ran Nigeria from 1999 until 2015. Dogged and resilient, the PDP is nevertheless a shadow of its former self, still rebuilding its party structures after years of infighting. Lining up behind it are many smaller parties, most of which are ‘mom-and-pop' operations.
These opportunistic parties possess little more than their acronyms, subsisting day-to-day by selling endorsements or renting themselves out to defeated APC or PDP primary candidates seeking a second chance to run in the general election. Some are used by ambitious politicians to build up sufficient voting strength to be co-opted by one of the major parties.
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