The gale of defections witnessed in the country recently has given cause for worry to all Nigerians and lovers of democracy the world over. At the last count, 37 House of Reps members and 15 Senators reportedlydefected to the PDP from the APC. The way and manner it was carried out by the leadership of the national Assembly as represented by Dr Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara has left a sour taste in the mouth of citizens of the country.
Many Nigerians were shocked that immediately after the controversial defections, the legislators proceeded on a two-months long vacation in spite of some burning national issues pending before them such as budget consideration for the upcoming 2019 polls and some very important unattended pieces of legislations such as the Proceeds of Crime Bill, Petroleum Industry Bill and several others. Even the bill to amend the INEC Act passed by NASS has not been assented by Mr. President owing to some inputs that were deliberately inserted to favour the interest of individuals. There has to be a reconsideration by the NASS before the President can assent it. It is therefore important to note that without the consideration, passage and assent of the supplementary budget for the 2019 election, the poll cannot hold as scheduled bearing in mind that party primaries and national conventions where candidates for various positions would emerge is slated for August and September 2018 as campaigns are to begin in October. So, the leadership of the National Assembly plunged the nation into some kind of unnecessary and avoidable budget crisis that has put the National Assembly on the spot before Nigerians and its friends.
In any case, the leadership ought to have called of the holiday and allow the budget consideration by plenary once the committees on INEC and Appropriation complete their work on the budget. The current holidays of the parliamentarians, therefore do not serve any good of the nation.
However, as the federal legislature proceeded on a two-month recess, a good number of observers are of the opinion that beyond the defections, vote buying and other forms of schemes for electoral advantages, poses some existential threats to the country’s democracy and particularly, the 2019 polls.
Nigerians know that the plan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is to make efforts to upstage the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Their intentions are well known. They left because they want to continue the mindless thieving of the nation. Come to look at it, 16 years of misrule of the PDP provided opportunity for massive stealing of the resources of the nation and imagine the sky scrapers and sprawling mansions in Abuja, Lagos and other cities from corrupt PDP leaders, most of whom are currently facing prosecution under the APC government fighting corruption to an appreciable level. Needless to mention how they have destroyed this nation which is being meticulously rebuilt by the APC.
Perhaps as the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his reaction to the defection of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Aminu Tambuwal putsit, “They Go Away Because We Go the Right Way. The defectors left the party to return to a motley agglomeration that would promise them what true democracy could not: automatic tickets, sharing of the national wealth and other offices and privileges.” Nigerians should, therefore discountenance the defections to PDP and stick to the APC that mean well for the nation.
Some analysts believe the mass defections witnessed in the Nigerian political scene points to deeper problems in our democracy which we must fix going forward. Some others believe that this goes to show that we run a political system where parties have no ideologies and where politicians simply swap one political platform for another because of what’s in it for them in their new platforms-the stomach infrastructure thing.
In faraway United States where we copied our type of democracy, you are not likely to see a Democrat becoming a Republican the way the PDP has done it here because both parties have a set of beliefs and values they hold dear and because the lines for both parties never cross. Where one party is pro-choice, the other is pro-life. Where one party has no problems with more guns in the hands of citizens, the other preaches gun control and routes for stricter gun laws. Where one party is conservative, the other is liberal. In Nigeria, there is no left, right or center in our politicalturf. Of the 91 registered political parties, only the APC and SDP stand out with some sorts of ideology. Whereas the APC stands for anti-corruption and asset recovery, the PDP on the other hand stands for looting and re-looting of recovered looted assets— In the PDP and those who run to them, convergence is for the sole purpose of sharing the national cake and feeding fat on the treasury. The SDP is clear on its ideology for a liberal society where you have free education at all levels and so on and so forth.
The ideology deficit in our nation’s politics has far reaching consequences for the rest of society. Political parties who have no values, no promised manifestoes or no discernible ideologies are not likely to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
based politics.
The latest tendency of political defections is contrasting to what was obtained in the First Republic, when major political parties of the era (like the Action Group (AG), the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC)) had a clear-cut ideology. Even in the Second Republic, the five major parties also had definite ideologies which they pursued vigorously. Even during the Third Republic, when the country experimented a two-party system (the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC)) was far better as a great distinction in policies and ideologies was clearly established. The nation should look out to the APC and SDP as they grow their ideologies come 2019 general elections.
The desperation of the PDP is obvious, but none of the over 87 political parties is ready to align with them to forge a common front for the upcoming polls. This has made them jittery and desperate as they continue to complain, wobble and fumble in the nation’s political firmament as broken-hearted citizens have completely lost their confidence and trust for them.
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Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo State.
