President Goodluck Jonathan recently granted state pardon to some Nigerians among who was his former boss Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha – a man who was tried, pleaded guilty and forfeited a fraction of his loot; a man who is still wanted by the authorities in the United Kingdom – on the premise that he had shown remorse for his sins and was therefore, deserving of a remission of his grievous offences against the people of Bayelsa who entrusted him with the control of their resources. We know the presidency does not give a damn and the attempt by the president’s spokespersons; Doyin Okupe and Reuben Abati to explain the indefensible actions of their principal proves again how amazingly detached from reality, and indeed, how out of touch with the people the presidency is.

I have written in this column that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be vulnerable at the moment especially as the discord in the South-South PDP continues to fester. I should point out, however, that a group of people who have successfully monopolized power at the federal level for over a decade would not go down without a fight.

When I read that another group of persons under a seemingly hastily created party, the African Peoples’ Congress, had applied to INEC for registration as the APC, I was more amused than perturbed. I actually chuckled at the news of another group of individuals, this time the All Patriotic Citizens were also applying to be registered as the APC. The subsequent withdrawal of the application of the All Patriotic Citizens did not surprise me either. It essentially demonstrated the extent of the cold calculations for the 2015 elections. Is it impossible to equate the re-emergence of Chief Tony Anenih as chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees with the recent state pardons, the application of the other APCs and the 2015 election? I think not. His reputation for quietly formulating and implementing strategies to deal with knotty issues is not to be underestimated.

As clearly demonstrated in the recently concluded Abuja municipal elections, the PDP cannot be defeated on social media or on newspaper columns. A concerted effort needs to be made to galvanize the bases of all the parties constituting the APC in order to defeat the PDP at the grassroots. Nigerians deserve a government that is more concerned with improving the welfare of its people than instigating the political resurrection of its cronies.

It is in view of this that I believe that the All Progressives Congress must not tarry. While they still have some way to go in their pursuit to provide a better alternative for the Nigerian people, I strongly believe that they provide the best chance of a formidable opposition to the PDP in the country. While it goes without saying that they have to avoid the political pitfalls the competition must no doubt be plotting, a quick resolution of its registration status with INEC and the enunciation of its policies to the millions of Nigerians who are hopeful for an improvement on the status quo would go a long way in cementing its status as a viable contender for our votes come 2015.

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Osato Edokpayi is an ardent believer in the Nigerian state that serves only the interest of its citizens. He is a keen observer of Edo State politics with particular interest in the political activities of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Edo State.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.