IDEOLOGICALLY SPEAKING

THE DEPARTURE OF ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS FROM PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Abstract

The paper examines the frequently repeated complaints in Nigeria that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC) do not offer much in terms of alternative policies. The argument that the two major parties have no clearly articulated alternative visions and strategies in an ideologically-driven manifesto, that they lack ideology/ideological differences. We extracted information from party campaign discourse; speeches, open letters to the electorate, policy documents and election manifesto (platforms) issued by PDP and APC. This involved: (1) providing the issue-specific information necessary for explaining party’s ideological position. (2) Distilling general ideological positions from policy specific information mainly on ‘Free Enterprise’ and ‘Social Welfare’. We argue that the two major parties in Nigeria do not lack ideology or ideological coloration; the difficulty is in maintaining strict ideological cut in the era of neoliberal consensus.