The Executive Director of Development Specs Academy, Okey Ikechukwu, has slammed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for failing to manage its internal crises.

Ikechukwu, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, also said that the party had failed to provide a formidable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The policy analyst said, “The PDP, a very robust party, a party which, during the days of (former President) Obasanjo, Audu Ogbe, and even Atiku (Abubakar) ran impressive campaigns. You had, I think, in 2003, three campaign teams. Today, it has shrunk into a whimpering collection of confounded men and women who are pretending to have a political party.

“What else does the PDP do today other than talk about its quarrels? Well, occasionally, it makes press releases attacking the APC, thinking that that is political opposition.”

According to him, the opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s administration is activists, civil society groups, concerned commentators, and elder statesmen who speak on national issues.

“The whole point of opposition is that you present a profile that will make you attractive to the next person, that will make somebody say to themselves, ‘No, no, no, I need this man to replace this other guy; they don’t know what they are doing.’

“Please, tell me what makes the PDP attractive today. Internally, it is in total disarray,” he added.

The professor said that the party’s current preparations for the 2027 general elections, amid the internal crises, do not show that it will perform better at the polls, except it manages the problems.

“So, in the next election, it will participate but it will not contest; it sounds contradictory.

“You are taking part in an event but your preparation is such that we know that you are going to get there and get beaten thoroughly and carried out on a stretcher, except a dramatic reconfiguration occurs within that party, with clear attention to the need to modify the optics of people you see in the party,” he said.

On the role of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Okechukwu further said that the PDP should be embarrassed that the former governor is still a member, given his alleged anti-party activities.

However, he added that the former Rivers State governor remains a political asset.

Ikechukwu said, “Wike, whether you like him a not, you must ask yourself: is this man a fool? The answer is no. Does he know what he is doing? Maybe. Can you disregard him? The answer is no. It is the PDP that should be embarrassed that Wike is still a member, given all that he has done and all that he’s doing.

“It’s the PDP that should be embarrassed that it has not been able to manage such a man because Wike will be a political asset to anybody he works for. For those he is working for now, he is a political asset. But to allow him to bestride both lanes and be doing 160 kilometers per hour shows there is nobody controlling the traffic.

“The PDP, with all due respect to the distinguished people in that party, is making itself look more ridiculous, not every day but every hour as the next hour comes. They should stop kidding themselves.” (Channels TV)