John Adoyi, PBA Journalism MenteeAs the 2023 general election draws closer, politicians who are willing to continue the journey of the Israelites have saddled their horses and are defecting to other political parties that they hope, would take them to the promised land of their political career.
Obviously, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would welcome their prodigal son that had gone astray and comes back. The All Progressives Congress (APC) would also do the same for their lost sheep.
If that doesn’t take place, Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the parties of the moment would be welcoming new members from the shade of APC and PDP.
According to the Oxford online reference, carpet crossing means “to move from one political party to another, commonly used in Nigeria. The practice and hence the term are often associated with leaving one party in the hope of securing a better position or greater personal wealth with another.”
The Nigerian constitution of 1999 spelt out guidelines for which a defection or carpet crossing can occur, but the politicians have developed ways of flouting the rules and sometimes getting away with it like they do with every law in the country.
Section 68 (g) of the 1999 constitution as amended, provides that, “a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member …….. if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected: provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or faction by one of which he was previously a member.”
The above provision prohibits carpet crossing in the legislature, but gives leeway to lawmakers who often cite “division” in their parties as reason for jumping ship.
When a politician sees that his interests is denied in one party or the changing political atmosphere seems to be unfavourable, they don’t hesitate to move to another party. There are cases when political parties accept politicians they have serially publicly criticized.
Worse still, the accepting political party does nothing to investigate whether the interest of the politicians it accepts, align with the ideology of the party (though most of them none). The party is rather, more concerned with the media attention that the move generates. It wants the public to believe that a corrupt public personality is now a Saint by being a member of their party, all in a bid to win. Thus, they would say, whatever would make us win is welcomed. Whatever sin or corruption committed compared to the drive to win is blurred and ultimately forgiven.
Parties are just essential covers for politicians to serve their interests that is why Nigerians see some of these politicians as political prostitutes. They don’t care about what the party hopes to achieve. As far as you are the loudest at that moment, you are the best.
The 2015 general election produced 24 governors in APC and 12 in PDP.
But with so much in-fighting and people’s interest no longer being served, APC lost five governors and PDP gained five to their folds.
Now that the 2023 general election is approaching and the wave of defection has started, APC has gained three more governors- Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, Ben Ayade of Cross River and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara.
There has been a flood of defections across parties by lawmakers in both chambers of the national assembly. A good number of Senators and House of Representatives members who did not get return ticket in their present parties have moved to where they could actualize their ambition.
According to media reports, as of July 1st, membership configuration in the Senate across party lines stood at: APC 61, PDP 38, NNPP 3, Young Progressives Party 2, Labour Party 1, All Progressives Grand Alliance 1, vacant seats 3, all totaling 109.
The major Parties are not the only ones enjoying the wave of defection. Labour Party and NNPP whose presidential candidates are aggrieved members of the PDP and APC respectively are also getting new members from the major parties.
An example is the recent defection politicians like Senator Victor Umeh that had previously publicly accused Peter Obi only to join him in Labour Party because he couldn’t secure APGA ticket for the Anambra Central Senatorial District.
Also, a Chieftain of the APC in Lagos State, Moshood Salvador defected to LP to fly the party’s flag in 2023 as the governorship candidate.
The massive defections that have take place every election season is posing a grave danger to Nigeria’s democracy. Nigerians now see politicians as desperate people who have no stand or ideology but are ready to go to any length to achieve their selfish goals.
This is not to suggest that defections shouldn’t happen at all but that it must be clearly regulated internally by party officials using the ideology and also by the constitution or else all party platforms would be clearly eroded of any form of distinguishing difference and become essentially one.
There is now a commonplace reference that PDP and APC are one; a statement Atiku Abubakar, PDP’s presidential candidate tried so hard but failed to denounce during his last interview with Arise TV because his checkered political history is replete with having open arms to whichever party was willing to have him as its presidential flag bearer since 2007. In fact, he joined in contesting the primaries that enthroned the current ruling government after helping form it in 2015 and also ran against it four years later in 2019.
Nigerians no longer believe in the failed promises of Politicians because all they do is change party like chameleons and return with those bogus promises that have never yielded any fruit; hence, the political apathy that has eaten deep into the polity.
Nigerians are beginning to stand up and fight against the tide, riding on the back of the emerging political euphoria found in the political ideals professed by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi whose ideology and resume resonated with Nigerians who need a better change from the present malady.
However, citizens’ political apathy is not yet over. Nigerians still doubt the credibility of politicians because of the past and this is not good for the democratic system.
Caution and moral judgment have been thrown to the winds by some of these politicians as they believe that all they have to do every four years is to move to the party currently enjoying the confidence of the electorates in order to get elected.
Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, in a statement recently, called out his fellow politicians for lack of political ideology. He said, “The way and manner politics is being played nowadays are not only devastatingly surprising but shocking. There was a time in the history of the country when Nigerians took great pride and an unwavering stance in their ideological political parties. But today politics isn’t just without ideology but also without shame. How do people talk from two sides of their mouths without conscience?
“Shame should control our lives in many powerful ways. And even though its rules are not written, we expect people to follow their sense of shame as a moral compass. When it comes to public figures, such as political leaders, we have even greater expectations for their moral standards. Should we worry, then, if political leaders become shameless?”
Politicians have to do away with this idea of recycling parties whenever they feel like.
The people need them to do what they were elected to do and not jumping ships for personal gain. Nigerians have lost faith in politicians because of this behavior.
The laws of the land need to be obeyed by these politicians.
Dave Umahi was sacked by the court for living the PDP after using the party to win the governorship position in Ebonyi State in 2019.
More need to be done to politicians who for no just reason keep on defecting to any party depending on their mood.
Until something is done to curb this menace, it will continue to be a part of Nigeria’s democracy and not a good story to sell to the global community.
John Adoyi is a Prime Business Africa Journalism Mentee
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