2015 and politicians Ideology
In this piece, ENIOLA AKINKUOTU examines the absence of political ideology and its effect on Nigerian democracy
As Nigerians head to the polls in less than 50 days’ time to elect a new leadership, one of the issues that the electorate will be confronted with is what parties to vote for. The conundrum will also be compounded by the fact that it would be difficult to know what to expect from the political parties.
The reason is not far-fetched. Since the return to democracy in 1999, political parties have failed to establish their foundations on clear-cut ideologies as expressed by the rate at which politicians cross from one party to the other.
The irony could be expressed in the case of Kwara State. During the last elections in 2011, the then Governor of the state, Bukola Saraki was running for the Senate while his political godson, Abdulfatah Ahmed, was running for the office of the governor. Both of them were running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
In that same election, Dele Belgore (SAN) was also running for governor on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (now part of the All Progressives Congress). Saraki and Ahmed have since defected to the APC and are now running for second terms on the party’s platform. Belgore, ironically, is now in the PDP and even participated in the governorship primary.
A similar story is that of a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who ran for the presidential election on the platform of the ACN (now APC). Ribadu defected to the PDP about four months ago and is now running for governorship seat of Adamawa State. Ironically, the person who emerged as the APC candidate in the same state, Mr Simon Lalong, defected from the PDP.
While the PDP is often described as a conservative party, the APC prides itself as a progressive party, professing to build on the legacy of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was the leader of the opposition in the First Republic.
However, political observers say the ease with which politicians move from one party to the other shows that the political parties are one and the same.
The results of the recently concluded APC governorship primary for instance showed that although the party claims to stand for change, it just might be business as usual come 2015.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that out of the 29 governorship candidates of the party, at least 18 had at one time or the other been members of the PDP.
In Sokoto State, the APC governorship candidate, Aminu Tambuwal, who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, defected from the PDP in October. In Kebbi State, the APC governorship candidate, Abubakar Bagudu, was formerly a member of the PDP likewise his Katsina State counterpart, Aminu Masari.
The candidate of the APC in Kano State, Umar Ganduje, defected from the PDP while his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, was a staunch PDP supporter having been a minister in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
In Jigawa State, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru was a member of the PDP before defecting to the APC, the same thing applies to Muhammad Abubakar, the APC Bauchi State governorship candidate. The story is similar in Gombe state where Alhaji Inuwa Yahya came from the PDP while in Niger State, Abubakar Sani, was formerly of the PDP.
The story is the same in Adamawa, Plateau, Taraba, Rivers, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi states.
The most absurd cases, however, were the defections of some of the immediate past ministers, who defected after failing to win the PDP primaries.
In Nasarawa State, the immediate past Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, dumped the PDP after losing at the primary and defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance where the governorship ticket was handed to him.
Similarly, in Benue State, a former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, defected from the PDP after losing out at the primary and emerged the APC governorship candidate the following week. In Oyo State, a former governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, lost the PDP primary but clinched the Labour Party ticket the next day.
One of the newly-registered parties, the Social Democratic Party, which was revived by an Afenifere leader, Chief Olu Falae, claimed to be the new face of progressivism, adding that it was the only party in Nigeria with a clear manifesto. Unfortunately, however, a number of those who also make up the party are defectors from the APC and the PDP.
Historians opine that the trend differed from politics of the First Republic. In the 1950s, Nigeria had three dominant political parties. They were the Action Group, which was founded by Awolowo; the Northern Peoples Congress, headed by the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, which was established by a nationalist, Herbert Macaulay; and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who went on to become the first President of an independent Nigeria.
The AG, for instance, was socialist in ideology and operated on the refined African socialism as espoused by Awolowo. The party which was progressive in nature was welfarist as it implemented a free education policy for the entire Western region.
After the collapse of the First Republic, Awolowo, established another party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, which controlled five states.
Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who was the governor of Lagos State and a UPN member, implemented free and compulsory education and provided affordable housing.
The situation is more worrisome because political parties now encourage defection based on the philosophy of “the more, the merrier.”
Recently, President Goodluck Jonathan described his party, the PDP as the ‘winning team’ and urged those in other political parties to join his party. His spokesperson, Reuben Abati, even called on a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to join the PDP as it was the ‘the party of light.’
Jonathan’s major contender, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who is the presidential candidate of the APC, also said recently during an interview on Channels Television that the fact that many of those who constituted his party were from the PDP did not mean that the APC was not a party of change.
“They were in the PDP but realised their mistakes that they were on the wrong path and have changed their ways and come to our party because they wanted to do the right thing and we should not reject them,” he said.
Experts say the large number of defections has changed public orientation and voting pattern such that next year, the electorate will not be expected to vote based on party preference but the reputation and personality of the candidates each party represents.
For instance, the results of the 2011 elections showed that while majority of voters in Lagos voted for the ACN (now APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, they voted for Jonathan in the presidential election the following week.
Speaking with our correspondent, prominent lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said the trend of defection was a reflection of the decay in the larger society where ideology and morality have taken the back seat.
Sagay argued that during the First Republic, defections were uncommon because the political terrain was patterned after the British style while the politicians were exposed to British democracy.
He said, “The issue of defection is due to opportunism and lack of principle. The Awolowo era was patterned after the British culture because it was shortly after the colonial era. Also, they had integrity and ideologies but as time passed, the system collapsed and we now have unprincipled politicians who jump from one party to the other.
Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo
“They don’t think of serving the people, all they think of is power. It is the lowest level of political underdevelopment and it keeps getting worse with every dispensation. The First Republic was better than the Second Republic while the second was better than the third. The Fourth Republic is by far the worst. Things will continue to get worse until we hit rock bottom and then we can start afresh.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, a Professor of Political Philosophy, Muyiwa Falaiye, said that the constitution should be amended such that people should be made to lose their office if they defect. He said lack of political ideology was the cause of defection, adding that the only ideology now is power.
Falaiye, who is also the Head of Philosophy Department at the University of Lagos, said even during the Awolowo era, there were defections as the Premier of the Western region, Ladoke Akintola, left the AG to form the Nigerian National Democratic Party and aligned with the NPC but it was not as bad as now.
He said, “It is because there is a lack of party ideology that defection is common. For now, power is the only political ideology in Nigeria. How many times have you heard a member of the United States Democratic Party defecting to the Republican Party?
“The current crop of politicians cannot bring change. A law needs to be introduced such that you lose your seat immediately you defect but you can defect the moment you end your tenure.”
Renowned lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), told our correspondent that political ideology could only be built by civil society groups and the media. He said the media had a huge role to play by ensuring that news items focus on issues and ideologies rather than personalities.
Describing defection as political prostitution, Falana said the judiciary was not punishing defectors and that was why it had come to stay. He said, “There were many cases of carpet-crossing in the First Republic and that was why in the 1979 Constitution, what the country tried to do was to arrest the ugly development by saying defection should be allowed only when a party is in crisis or a merger. Apart from that, people were made to lose their seats whenever they defected. However, some court judgements have defeated that purpose and there is a need for a constitutional review to stop it because it is tantamount to political prostitution and is unfair to those who voted for you.
“Also, we need to ensure that our parties have clearly defined programmes with which they can be easily identified because presently, there is no difference between the major political parties today. So, the consciousness of the people needs to be brought back. People should be made to reject parties or people without an ideology and the media must ensure that the politics of the country is based on programmes and not politicians and we should stop celebrating people of questionable character.”
However, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it would be unfair to castigate politicians for defecting. He said the politics of the First Republic should not be compared with the politics of today because the social reality was different.
On the issue of ideology, he said, “Whether the people in our party are from the PDP or not is really inconsequential. What voters should be looking out for is the manifesto of a party which is more or less its ideology.
“The moment a politician joins our party, he is given our manifesto and is made to abide by it. Our manifesto is on our website. So, voters should vote based on manifesto,” he said.
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