*DECONSTRUCTING POLITICO-LEGAL UNDERCURRENTS IN POLITICAL DEFECTION IN NIGERIA- NEED FOR HYGENIC POLITICS

For assortment of reasons, political defection otherwise called “political mobility”, “cross carpeting” or “decamping” (also derisively called “jumpology”) is common with Nigerian politicians and politics.

Forget the razzmatazz or showiness, Nigerian politicians may appear outwardly happy but deep down, they have a perpetual undercurrent of depression and discontent.

Nigerian politicians, whether at the intra-party or inter-party levels, do not treat themselves with any modicum of respect not to talk of love. It is a “cat and mouse” scenario or “dog-eat-dog” planet. Nigerian political parties typify persons or group of persons aggressively pursuing their narrow personal interests with scant consideration for others.

Worse still, a good number of Nigerians and her politicians are embarrassingly not knowledgeable about basic constitutional rights and freedoms. The negligible few who know are most unwilling to accord others or the next person those freedoms.

This justifies the compelling need to accentuate that a moral question cannot trump a constitutional right. There is also the need for continuous public enlightenment that there is no blame or guilt in exercising a constitutional right and, in this instance, the ramifications of the right to freedom of association.

The right to freedom of association is a fundamental and inalienable right guaranteed under section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.

This crucial intervention has become necessary because of dusts raised in the polity including ignorant comments about the right to defection or political mobility of some individuals who were members of the PDP in Imo State who recently dumped the party. The development has also thrown up the moral question whether it is proper for persons who were said to have “benefitted immensely from a named political party” to decamp from the political party to another platform? Beyond these pedestrian or niggling concerns, there are the irking or nagging questions namely; at what point did these decampees discover that their erstwhile political party was a cesspool of corruption and incapable of guaranteeing the democratic rights of its members? Are there justifications for these political migrants or nomads to gloat or wildly celebrate their exits including openly and ingloriously tearing their PDP membership cards and or burning party flags? In resolving some of these thorny issues, attempt will be made to unfurl some of the underpinning legal cum socio-political reasons for lack of politics of ideology in Nigeria.

It must be stated firstly and clearly too that political mobility is constitutional and legitimate but sabotage is cowardly!

There is nothing wrong or condemnable about political mobility, meaning change of party platform including disengaging from partisan politics entirely at any stage and by anyone irrespective of what he or she may have benefitted from the dumped platform. The right to freedom of association includes the right to stay alone or to dissociate or not to associate at all but many do not know or refuse to accept this indubitable reality.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, change of political persuasion, party leaning or affiliations is a constitutional right.

This right to defection does not however extend to serving members of the State and National legislatures who are precluded from decamping except in circumstances provided under sections 68(1)(g) and 109(1)(g) of the extant national Constitution.

Only anarchists masquerading as democrats contest the fundamental and inalienable right of others to political mobility. Change of political party is nobler than staying back to sabotage which is cowardly and unethical. A dissatisfied party member is at liberty to move on to another platform. It is no big deal to change party platform either. Reasons need not be given. As they “Soldier come, soldier go, barrack go still remain”.

However, the act of publicly tearing, burning or destroying erstwhile party flags, membership identity cards and the like is not only irresponsible but provocative. It is gross, puerile and childish to so do. It is a criminal conduct capable of causing breach of peace. In the past, some big wigs or party adherents who left party A for party B have also returned to party A without blinking an eyelid. Across the federation, many ready examples of politicians who came back to embrace their old platforms abound that mentioning specific names will serve no useful purpose here.

Abandoning a platform or decamping from one party to the other is not new and this recent one in Imo PDP will not be the last.

However, what is specious is the sudden realisation, in the words of some of the decampees, that “PDP is the ancestor of impunity and great grandfather or electoral malfeasance whether in Imo State or in Nigeria”. Talk of oppressors complaining about oppression.

Will these latest Imo PDP decampees change their bad political behaviours and oppressive tendencies which they acquired and or exhibited while in PDP as they birth in their new found political El Dorado?

On the flip side, will the party that is being deserted in droves by its pioneer members, youths, men and women, change style and introspect on how to evolve more accommodating brand of democratic politics? A Leopard never changes its spots!

One does not require extra courage to pointedly state that political party or platform is not the problem of Nigerian politics. Instead, Nigerian politicians are the problem of party politics.

Irrespective of the political party involved, Nigerian politicians do not give a hoot or care about political injustice until they taste a bit of the bitter pills they serve others with relish. In this wise, it may be asked, if the latest Imo PDP decampees were still in control of the levers of power and the party structures in Imo State and beyond, would they have decamped? It will be disingenuous to answer in the positive.

In Ondo and Edo States where off cycle governorship elections are scheduled to hold later in the year, every day records politicians migrating from one party to the other predicated on assortment of reasons. Significantly, no decampee cites “stomach infrastructure” as a reason for decamping even when it is not a remote possibility.

Necessitous men are not free. Hunger, poverty and greed cannot be ruled out completely in any discussion on political defections in Nigeria. Let no one be deceived, self-interest is the only thing that is constant in power politics in Nigeria! For how long will this anomalous situation of things continue? Why is it impossible to play politics of ideology in Nigeria?

Rampant migratory politics only underscores worrying lack of ideology in Nigerian politics.

From return to civil rule in 1999 till date, no Nigerian political party can be said to be different from the other except in terms of name, logo, and symbols.

Despite textual differences in the respective Constitutions and manifestos of political parties in Nigeria, it can be strongly argued that the parties are basically the same. The parties Constitutions are mere collections of arid principles and verbose words on how to jostle for political power and ultimately trample on rights of party members. Which political party is not guilty of being deficit of commitment to obey party constitution and zero tolerance for impunity?

Whether big or small party, whether in power or in opposition, none of the political parties is pro-people, none is pro-poor or pro-democracy and none is without internal crisis.

Nigerian political parties are merely avenues or vehicles for seeking political power for self aggrandisement and or to oppress one another with reckless abandon.

Hence, party leaders and their cohorts are quick to jump out of the party once they lose control of the party structure or its commanding leadership which afforded them the opportunity to oppress and suppress the democratic rights of other party members.

Once the party is not in power and there is no largesse to share, expect political “jumpology” for all kinds of flimsy reasons. One is tempted to ask, is there any Nigerian political party that can proudly boast of internal party democracy?

Is there any Nigerian political party that is free from impunity, disobedience of its own constitution and disregard for the rule of law? The answers will certainly be “a resounding NO” as our law Courts are inundated with different types of cases on party leadership crisis from ward to state to national.

The multitudes of pre-election cases filed in Court by aggrieved aspirants over the outcome of party primary elections across party lines in the last general election clearly suggest that the answers to the above questions can only be in the negative.

Many factors conduce to irresponsible politics and lack of internal party democracy in Nigeria. One major reason is the lack of consequences for lawlessness.

Needless to overemphasise that the absence of an Electoral Offences Commission that will among other things be empowered to prosecute and secure the conviction of electoral offenders including party officials who rig party congresses or party primary elections is contributory to turncoat politics and unprincipled political behaviour in Nigeria. Besides, sundry legal somersaults and institutional deficiencies surrounding party politics and general elections also contribute to bad politics in Nigeria.

It can be successfully argued that overregulation of party activities under the Electoral Act, 2022 has not helped to deepen internal party democracy.

The Electoral Act, 2022 makes an audacious effort to regulate and make provision for uniform practices by the political parties ranging from types of party primaries they are allowed to conduct [direct, indirect and consensus], overbearing role of INEC in monitoring of party primary, to limited window given to only aspirants in the party primary to challenge primary elections even when it is clear to other party members especially delegates who voted or should vote in the election that the party constitution and guidelines for the conduct of the said primary election was flagrantly violated.

These over regulations and excessive stereotyping have made Nigerian political parties not to be organic and unable to evolve autochthonous political traits, blueprints and principles. Members of Nigerian political parties are and remain strange bedfellows forced by electoral laws to stay together to hunt for political power.

None is an amalgam of persons yoked together by discernible political beliefs, ethical reflections and insightful convictions. By law, registered political parties must win elections or get disbanded immediately by the INEC.

A political party that is not viable, meaning being able to win seats in parliament or executive in an election cycle, is by law liable to be deregistered under section 225(a), (b) and (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. How can politics of ideology take root under these kinds of excessive legal regimentations and adhoc arrangements?

Furthermore, final decisions of the apex Courts including the Election Petition Tribunals all congregate to suggest that the Electoral Act, 2022 requires comprehensive amendments if Nigeria is to experience free, fair and credible election. from the decisions of the Courts, it has been made abundantly clear that the burden of proof placed on a petitioner under the nascent Electoral Act, 2022, makes it herculean if not near impossible to prove an election petition. So, it may well be that politicians are abandoning their old parties and migrating to new platforms where they can rig themselves into offices and dare their challengers to “go to court.

Nigeria party politics is yet to evolve. In 1998, late Chief Bola Ige had reason to describe the then Nigerian political parties as “five fingers of a leprous hand”. Several years after, it seems to be business as usual to the extent the political parties could be said to have become cancerous fingers. Are all hopes lost? Is it impossible for Nigerians to play hygienic politics?

It gets worse before it gets better (deterioratur antequam accipit bonum).

A new normal is possible!

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*Prof Obiaraeri, N.O.*