The judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo on the 8th of March, 2022 brings to the fore the nature of politics in Nigeria; Politics devoid of ideology –the Bread and Butter politics that now defines the Nigerian political culture. This is a watershed judgment; though political analysts and legal experts seem unanimous in the belief that the Federal High Court judgment will not stand the rigorous scrutiny of the Appeal and the Supreme Courts. To some analysts, the judgment is a mere academic exercise. The stay of execution order said to have been secured from a High Court, by the embattled Governor mid-day yesterday, 10th March 2022, seem to lay credence to this school of thought. But the issue has somehow made its way up in the trending chart in Nigeria and has become a major talking point in National discuss in the last three odd days.
A brief excursion into the history of what Dr Amaechi Anakwe of Ray Power FM’s flagship Political Program calls “Political Jumpology” will be insightful at this point. Political parties are important institutions for developing policies and platforms and providing critical oversight and accountability of government action. Through their elected representatives, political parties implement policies that reflect the ideology of the party. However, this is not the case in Nigeria. Moving from one political party to another is common and seen as a way of gaining an advantage over other political party opponents during elections. While President Muhammadu Buhari for instance, was never a member of the PDP, he did move between various political parties in his quest to become the number one citizen of Nigeria. In 2003 and 2007, he contested for president as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). In 2011, he was the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which he founded. We all know what happened in 2015, he won the APC presidential primary in the closing days of 2014 and was elected president in the March 28, 2015 elections.
Between 2013 and 2014, the country was reeling under the yoke of what many Nigerians called a gale of defections that became a big threat to the structures that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had expended much time and resources to put in place. For instance, in 2013, five Governors (from Adamawa, Kano, Kwara, River, and Sokoto), 37 House of Representatives members and 11 Senators left the PDP and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), giving life to a newly created opposition party. Many of the individuals that left the PDP in 2013 were involved in a return journey to PDP. Just as that was going on, 15 Senators, 37 Representatives, and 3 State Governors left the APC and joined other political parties— PDP picked up a majority of these disaffected politicians.
It must be noted that some of the inter party movements were occasioned by intra party squabbles, supremacy contests within the party and outright absence of internal democratic principles within the party. In Edo State for instance, the then APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole working in cohort with the Party National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu could not brook the idea of retaining Governor Obaseki for a second term in Edo State Government House. Everything in and out of the books was done to crowd out and deny him the ticket to contest on the platform of APC. He was constrained by all the intrigues in the APC, to switch camp to the PDP who readily handed over the party Ticket to him. He fought gallantly on all fronts, mobilized Edo people against the invading forces of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu with the “Edo no be Lagos” chant and succeeded in renewing his mandate with the people for a second term. In the process, he also succeeded in retiring Comrade Adams Oshiomhole from politics -albeit momentarily.
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State is another beneficiary of internal squabbles within the APC. The election umpires INEC declared that the APC had no candidate for the 2019 gubernatorial elections in Zamfara State as a result of the party’s inability to conduct credible party primaries. Matawalle who was the PDP standard bearer then had an easy walk over. Bayelsa State replicated the situation in Zamfara State. Chief Douye Diri of the PDP was declared winner because the APC failed to do its due diligence on the credentials of the running mate of the APC candidate who actually polled more votes in the elections. However, just as the dust of the 2019 elections was about to settle, Governor Bello Matawalle quickly leap-frogged to the APC. As at the last count, Governors Ben Anyade of Cross River State and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State had also made their ways to the APC.
One is tempted to ask… why do Nigerian politicians bounce between political parties. Political parties in Nigeria, and in other parts of the African continent, tend to lack ideologies and explicit messages that separate them from each other. Because of the country’s tribal, religious and geographic divide, political parties are driven by personalities as opposed to ideologies. Emerging political alliances are equally based mostly on personalities and agreements among political leaders, and do not necessarily reflect differences in policy preference or ideology. For example, in the United States, political parties are defined by their platforms or manifestoes as they are called in Nigeria. So, if a Republican candidate comes knocking at your door, you have a sense of where he or she stands on the current critical issues.
The irony of the Nigerian situation is that when a high ranking political personality defects, as they say in Nigeria, he or she certainly moves with thousands of other hangers-on individuals, including officials of the party that he or she is leaving. These are individuals that depend on the political patronage of the big shot for their survival. While political parties are vessels to government and power all over the world, they are the only way to get into government and enjoy the perks of office in Nigeria. If you fail to move with the big Boss, your tap is switched off at the source. In some instances, key officials of the Executive and the legislative arms are coarsed against their personal belief and wish to join the exodus. The case of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State readily comes to mind. Some members of the State House of Assembly are alleging that their salaries and emoluments have been frozen for close to a year now because of their decision to stay put in PDP. So, in addition to the Bread and Butter politics in Nigeria, we also have the Carrot and Stick politics in Ebonyi State.
