By Ekemini Udim
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Most people that won election on the platform of Labour Party are persons that the big political parties would not have given tickets for the offices they contested. Even after taking the tickets, some of them did not have any hope of victory. Just like play, they won election into big offices to the utter amazement of many. Jubilation rented the air. What looked impossible became possible. The mega parties were defeated, hands down. The winners praised Labour Party to the high heavens for giving them the platform. The electorates were also applauded for standing by them amidst all odds. Less than two years into their occupation of the seats which they won election to serve for four years, most of the legislators that rode on the back on Labour Party to achieve the impossible have today defected to the same parties that saw no potential in them and had no place for them. What an immoral way to abandon a platform; the same platform that gave hope and everything at a time. What a terrible way to say thank you!!
If no other defection has disappointed most people, that of the persons that rode to power on the platform of Labour Party does. How these persons suddenly conclude that the Labour Party is a no party beats the imagination of many. As usual they have given reasons, most of which have become laughable and clearly incongruous.
Two Governors of the PDPO have also abandoned the PDP for the APC. Governor Oborevwori of Delta State opened the way and in no time, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom followed suit. They did not just defect, they defected with their excos and also ensured that the members of the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Council Chairmen, Councillors and political appointees all defected with them. Some of these persons are not convinced about their movements but they have no option than to follow their Governors. For some of them, it is like walking in the dark with no flicker of light to guide one’s steps in a land that is totally strange.
Their movement is for political convenience, not conviction. It is done just to be in the good books of the Governor and avoid being politically marked for eliminated. They wear cloths with the insignia of the new party but in their hearts and minds a different thing applies. For most of them, their political future hang in the balance. It is not the best of position for most of them politically but they have no option than to follow the Governor.
It is mostly in time of defection that you get to see the selfishness of the Nigerian political leader. He will never defect alone. He tells the world that he is exercising his constitutional right to freedom of association and yet, he does not allow his appointees to exercise the same right. He talks about fundamental freedoms but makes it an anathema and political insubordination should his appointees and members of parliament in his State refuse to sign up to his new party.
The President whom the Governors defect to join his party is the direct opposite of what the Governors are doing today. As Governor of Lagos State, the President remained the last man standing. He was in the minority in the midst of an overwhelming number of PDP Governors and President but he did not mind. He stood with his people and honoured their mandate. He believed that his people believed in him and also believed in his party before electing him from a pool of many other candidates to serve them. For him, it went beyond victory at the polls; it was a pact, a covenant and a social contract with his people. For him, there was a consequential obligation to remain with his people and keep their mandate intact.
He came under rough times with the PDP led Government at the centre. Allocation meant for Local Government Councils in Lagos were withheld by the Federal Government, yet he was not shaken; he did not ‘’align his people with the centre’’ by defecting to the PDP and coercing his appointees to join him. He stayed on, to build his party because for him, Lagos was the centre for his people, not Abuja. He weathered the storms and earned the respect of the entire nation. In just a matter of time, his party became the party to meet and negotiate for electoral partnership. Presidents went to him for consultation and support. This is because he had built a political empire with his people. Eventually, his tenacity and faith in his party paid off when he formed a mega party, the APC and the party birthed its first President in Muhammadu Buhari. Tinubu later emerged as the second President.
As a leader of the APC, the President is happy about the defections but upon seeing the defecting Governors he takes his mind to his days as Governor of Lagos and tells himself how proudly he stood for his people with their mandate intact, even in the most inauspicious moments. Many people love him today because of that tenacity and unshakable character.
Moving forward, politicians should contest only on the political platforms they trust and are ready to stay till the end of the tenure for which they were elected. Cross carpeting at will with all the usual rhetoric that follow will not help in the deepening of our political culture as a nation. We need politicians that can be like the Conservatives in the UK who would never cross over to the Labour Party just because they want to get a second term in office. Same goes for the Democrats and Republicans in America. For these people, it is about ideology and not about personal interest and sometimes selfish interest. Some States in America have been governed by Republicans like forever. Same with the Democrats. Governors of Nigeria should respect the aga-long political culture of their people. They should spend time in development, which is why they were elected. If Anambra has always been APGA, allow it to be so. That is what the people believe in. If Lagos has always been Action Group, Action Congress and later, ACN, all tilting towards Awoism, allow it to be so.
Defection does not guarantee effective leadership and development. Most of the reasons advanced for the glamourous defections will never come to pass. They could be in the same mould with campaign promises that are never been fulfilled. It is the leader’s resolve to lead his people aright that will guarantee effective leadership and translate to development. Governors should care more about the square meters of the State given to them to govern. They should care less about Abuja. Allocation is not given on party lines; every Governor receives allocation monthly. The President is too busy to come to your State and fix schools and hospitals. It is the Governors that are better placed to feel the pulse of the people and channel development as appropriate. Governors should take leadership by the horn.
How well have you managed the allocation you receive? How well does it reflect in the lives of your people and in the streets of your State. It is two years to the general election and it is too early to abandon governance for politics.
Ekemini Udim is a legal practitioner. ekeminiudimforjustice@gmail.com
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACIarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
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