The quest for power has triggered a gale of defections that has seen some chieftains of the opposition political parties moving in their numbers to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election. FELIX NWANERI reports
In advance democracies, politicians normally cite crisis, division and reneging on agreements as reasons why they defect from one political party to another. However, most defection cases in Nigeria are mainly informed by personality clash, power tussle and most importantly, personal interest.
While some analysts, most times, see defectors as political jobbers, who are bereft of ideological convictions, the question is: How many of the nation’s political parties can be identified with ideas on which economic or political systems are based. This, perhaps, informs the belief that politics in Nigeria remains a game of interest, masquerading as a contest of principles.
It is against this backdrop that some analysts are of the view that the defection phenomenon has only succeeded in relegating politics of ideas to the background given that the unguarded manner at which politicians, especially those in the various legislative houses, jump in and out of parties, negates the wisdom behind the provision of section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The section, which is designed to curb defection at the slightest reason, provides as follows: “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if (g) 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 factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”
Nigeria and politics of defection
Defection in Nigeria’s politics predates the country’s independence. It first crept into the country’s political lexicon in 1951, when some members of the National Council for Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) were lobbied to cross over to the Action Group (AG).
The NCNC had won 42 out of the 80 seats in the region’s House of Assembly in the 1951 elections, but in one fell swoop, the party lost 20 of the seats to the AG.
This development prevented the NCNC from forming the government in the then Western Region. The trend continued in the First Republic (1960-1966). Notable defections in that era were that of Chief Ladoke Akintola, who left AG due to personality clash between him and the leader of the party, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
A similar disagreement between Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and one of his lieutenants, Dr. Kingsley Mbadiwe, forced the latter to dump the NCNC to form the Democratic Party of Nigeria Citizens (DPNC).
The story was the same in the Second Republic (1979-1983). The parties that were worst hit then are the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) – an offshoot of AG and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
Some chieftains of the UPN, including Chief Anthony Enahoro, Chief Richard Akinjide, Mazi Sam Ikoku and Chief Akin Omoboriowo, at a time, left the party and joined the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Omoboriowo, the then deputy to Governor Michael Ajasin (Ondo State) later became the NPN governorship candidate in 1983.
The PRP, on its part, lost Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, who was elected governor of Kano State on the platform of the party in 1979, following his defection to Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP). Rimi’s bid for a second term bid in 1983, however failed as the candidate of his former party defeated him.
While defection could be said to have characteristised the country’s political landscape before now, it assumed an alarming rate with the advent of the present dispensation (Fourth Republic) in 1999. Several politicians have criss-crossed more than four or five parties in the last 25 years.
Some did so, abandoning the platforms through which they were elected into office even before their tenure elapsed, while others are quick to jump ship immediately they or their parties lose elections.
Cases of these defections were in trickles in the early years of the Fourth Republic but rose to a height in 2014 ahead of the 2015 elections.
Among top defectors then were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, then Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), who left the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the then newly-registered All Progressives Congress (APC), while Rochas Okorocha (Imo) dumped the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Others that headlined the 2015 defection are former Governors Segun Oni (Ekiti), Olagunsoye Oyinola (Osun) and Isiaka Adeleke (Osun), Achike Udenwa (Imo), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Adamu Aliero (Kebi) and Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto). Some federal and state legislators were also not left out.
They include Senators Bukola Saraki, Ali Modu Sheriff, Ifeanyi Araraume and Chris Anyanwu as well as the then Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal.
Also on the list was a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 elections, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
The gale of defection, however, rose to an all-time high after the 2015 polls as most members of the PDP moved in drove to the APC that won the presidential election in their quest to cling to power.
Among PDP chieftains, who couldn’t wait to rebuild their party after the shocking defeat of their party include a former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo; ex-governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala; a former managing director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe and a former Senate Majority Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.
Others were former National Legal Adviser of the PDP and gubernatorial candidate of the party in the 2012 election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke; Senators Heineken Lokpobiri, John Briambaifa and Fidelis Okoro; one time chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Information, Hon. Eseme Eyibo; former House of Representatives Minority Leader, Hon. Muhammad Kumalia and former PDP governorship aspirant in Kogi State, Jibrin Isah.
The opposition parties further got depleted ahead of the 2019 elections, following the defection of some of their chieftains to the APC although the party lost its notable members like Atiku, Saraki and Tambuwal to the PDP.
Key opposition figures who defected to ruling party at the time include a former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani; Senators Andy Uba, Uche Ekwunife and Anthony Agbo; Hon. Tony Nwoye; former PDP governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Dr. Obinna Uzor; a former PDP governorship aspirant in Enugu State, Sam Onyishi; ex -speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odo and ex-speaker of Ebonyi State Assembly, Hon Blaise Orji.
Others were former governor of Plateau State and then senator representing Plateau Central, Senatorial District, Joshua Dariye; then Deputy Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Yusuf Gagdi; Minority Whip, Daniel Nanlong; Senator Yele Omogunwa (Ondo South); Senator Nelson Effiong (Akwa Ibom South; Senator Smart Adeyemi (former senator for Kogi West) and a former deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja..
Also on the seeming endless list were an ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State and then Minority Leader of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime; ex-presidential adviser and prominent Bakassi leader in Cross River State, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, Senator John Enoh (Cross River Central).
It was a similar experience after the 2019 elections and during the build-up for the 2023 elections. While David Umahi and Ben Ayade, who won the Ebonyi and Cross River governorships on the platform of the PDP defected to the APC in 2020 and 2021.
A former governor of Anambra State and the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in 2019, Peter Obi, on his part, left the party in 2022 for Labour Party (LP) to contest the presidential election.
Others who dumped their respective parties ahead of the 2023 elections include a former National Chairman of APGA, Victor Umeh, who joined LP and then Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP to APGA); Senator Adamu Aliero (APC to PDP).
Allure of APC ahead 2027
It is another season of allure of the APC ahead of the 2027 elections given the recent defections involving some members of the National Assembly elected during the 2023 elections on the platforms of the opposition parties. Among those who have jumped ship is the senator representing Imo East Senatorial District, Ezenwa Onyewuchi.
The lawmaker based his decision on the intractable division and crisis in the Labour Party that sponsored his election into the Senate. He also noted that his decision was is in line with the dictates of the constitution.
Onyewuchi, a former member of the House of Representatives (OwerriMunicipal/Owerri-North/West-Federal Constituency), in 2022, also dumped PDP to join the Labour Party. Senator Ifaeanyi Ubah (Anambra South), had in October last year defected from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to the APC.
He noted in his letter then that he dumped the YPP as a result irreconcilable differences in the party, but failed to give details on it. Ubah, who passed on in July was the only member of the YPP in the Senate before his defection to the ruling party.
He was first elected on his former party’s platform in n 2019. The House of Representatives, on its part, has recorded more defection cases than the Senate. Eight members of the Green Chamber have so far dumped the respective platforms on which they were elected.
They are Salman Idris(Ijumu/Kabba Bunu federa constituency, Kogi State), from African Democratic Congress (ADC) to APC; Christian Nkwonta(Ukwa East/Ukwa West federal constituency, Abia State) from PDP to APC; Suleiman Abubakar Gumi (Gummi/Bukkuyum federal constituency, Zamfara State), from PDP to APC and Erthiatake Ibori-Suene (Ethiope East/ Ethiope West federal constituency, Delta State), from PDP to APC.
Others are Tochukwu Okere (Owerri Municipal/ Owerri North/ West federal constituency, Imo State) from LP to APC; Donatus Mathew (Kaura federal constituency, Kaduna State), from LP to APC; Bassey Akiba (Calabar Municipal/ Odukpani federal constituency, Cross River), from LP to APC and Iyawe Esosa (Oredo federal constituency, Edo), from LP to APC.
Party chieftains not left out
The defection game ahead of the 2027 polls is not limited to the lawmakers. Chieftains of the opposition parties are also not left out. Just recently, some chieftains of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) defected to the APC in Kano State.
Among the defectors were kinsmen of the national leader of the party, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf. Anyim Pius Anyim, a former President of the Senate, in July, left the PDP for APC.
While the move shocked many, Anyim said he and his supporters joined the ruling party because of the resolve to unite the whole of Ebonyi with the APC political family. He added that move was informed by the need to support President Bola Tinubu and all his political appointees in the state.
“The people of Ebonyi have resolved to collaborate with the governor and all federal appointees of Ebonyi, particularly the Minister of Works (Umahi) to upscale our support for President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
It was in like manner that the immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu and a former Edo North senator, Francis Alimikhena, dumped the PDP for APC ahead of the September governorship election in the state.
It is inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally
Opposition accuses APC of poaching
No doubt, the last has not been heard of the defection trend, but the PDP and LP, which are at the receiving end of the development have accused the ruling APC of wooing its members, especially lawmakers, with return tickets for the 2027 elections.
The APC, according to sources, is employing the defection strategy to weaken the main opposition parties ahead of the next general election.
“There is no hiding the fact that the APC leadership is out to deplete the PDP and LP ranks in the National Assembly and it has been doing this by wooing opposition lawmakers to its fold through promises of return tickets,” a source said.
The leadership of LP, which shared this belief, however announced on Thursday that the party has opened a ” Hall of Shame” register for defector lawmakers and officials elected under the party’s platform. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement, said:
“The defection, to us, is quite unfortunate and we condemn the action which is irrational, untenable, inconsistent and alien to all known norms for which democracy stands for.
Citing Section 68(g) of the 1999 constitution, he recalled how the party achieved its highest feat during the 2023 election by winning one governorship seat, eight Senate and 35 House of Representative seats as well as numerous state Assembly seats. Ifoh added that LP also caused a major upset at the presidential election, noting that many Nigerians still believed that it won.
His words: “The successes achieved at that election expectedly elicited some pockets of internal pressure which have since being dealt with through internal peace mechanism and also through judicial means.
“Presently, while some other big parties are swimming in their own political tempest, Labour Party has since moved on having resolved all its challenges.
It is therefore safe to say that there is absolute peace in the Labour Party. Therefore, no one elected on the ticket of the Labour Party has the constitutional protection to decamp from the party along with the party’s mandate.”
Ifoh, who also recalled how LP’s Women Leader in Kaduna State, Victoria Chintex, was assassinated in 2022, while working for candidates of the party in the state including, Donatus Mathew, who eventually won as a member of the House of Representatives for Kaura constituency, decried the lawmaker’s claim that he defected because he is the sole LP member in the whole of North-West.
His words: “Hon Mathew practically spit on the grave of late Chantex and disrespected thousands of party members in Kaduna, who toiled to elect him into position of power. This is why the party, arising from a recent unfortunate activity, did say that ‘the beautiful ones are not yet born.’
“In the case of Reps Okere, Akiba, Esosa and Fom, these men got into their positions on a platter as the party issued them solitary tickets, funded their campaigns, stretched backwards to defend them in the tribunal, gifting them waivers and spending fortunes administratively to ensure they were not removed.
“Interestingly, none of these ingrates re
membered to send a kobo to the party in their 18 months of their legislative adventure as a way of check-off dues.
No support to the party whatsoever since their inauguration.
They simply forgot where they were coming from.” Ifoh maintained that the party’s leadership is undaunted by the defection, adding that it has instructed its legal team to commence the legal actions against the defectors and to also commence the process of regaining our mandates in line with the 1999 constitution and 2022 Electoral Act as amended.
“The party will also approach the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare vacant the seats occupied by these former Labour Party members in line with the House Rules. It is inappropriate and unacceptable for these lawmakers to continue to function as representatives of their constituencies illegally,” he said.
While more politicians across the various
divides are expected to switch camps as the race for the 2027 elections gathers momentum, developments in the days ahead will determine whether those who have jumped ship will remain in their respective new platforms or continue with the back and forth movement.
