As of today, four opposition party governors and tens of legislators have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). There are also possibilities that others will defect to the ruling party before the 2027 general elections. The defections into APC have been a concern to political pundits, some members of the ruling party, members of the opposition parties and the larger community. JOHNCHUKS ONUANYIM x-rays the reasons behind the defections.
Defection, especially of governors of the opposition political party into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent time has taken a center stage of discussion among political pundits and Nigerians in general.
The concern to many is the implications of this defection to the democratic governance and what advantage it would bring to the large society. Those affected have tried to explain the advantages it would bring, while others have seen it as a means of silencing opposition and turning the country into one party state.
According to the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, defection of politicians into another party in the country is the absence of a clear political ideology among the nation’s political actors.
He said, “One of the things that troubles our politics is the absence of ideology. All our parties are almost one and the same. That is why it is so convenient for politicians to migrate from one to the other. At night, it is APC, in the morning, SDP, and by afternoon, ADC because there is no ideology.
Good analytical minds understand Makinde’s disposition as those who defect to another political party do so out of fear of the unknown. It could be said that there are two major reasons why politicians defect from their party to another, especially the ruling party.
First is the fear that the ruling party might use State institutions to take away their victory in the forthcoming election. This is mostly the reason most governors defect from their party to the ruling party. They believe with the ruling party controlling the INEC, security agencies and the Judiciary, it is easier for them to rig an election in favour of their candidate in an election and get away with it.
The case of Edo State is still fresh in the minds of some people as they allegedly believe that the governorship election in that state was rigged in favour of the ruling APC candidate, governor Monday Okpebolo. The second reason why politicians defect to the ruling party at the national is for them to find space to play at the national level. Most people in this category are the second term governors of the opposition party.
This is where you find people like the governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Douye Diri. Diri is a second-term governor and might be willing to go to the Senate after his second term.
Going to the Senate after serving as a governor, may not be possible for him on two grounds: one the governorship election in Bayelsa State is off season and two, the person occupying that position is in his Senatorial zone is the former governor of the state, Senator Seriake Dickson.
Diri was a Senator when Dickson completed his term as a governor and they literally swapped positions. As a second term governor, he would want to play at the national level by becoming a Minister or occupying any other position at the national level and that will only be possible if he belongs to the ruling party.
Precedents
Among the G-5 governors in 2023: Seyi Makinde (Oyo State), Nyesom Wike (Rivers State), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia State), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu State) and Samuel Ortom (Benue State), the only person playing today at the national is Wike as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Wike secured his position as a Minister because he aligned with the ruling party in the Presidential election during the election in 2023. Beside Makinde who is still a governor, the trio of Ikpeazu, Ortom and Ugwuanyi lost out because they did not align and did not defect to APC.
Political pundits believe that had they defected to APC before the 2023 general elections they would have secured Ministerial slots. The argument that some persons advanced for defecting into the ruling party does not hold water.
For instance, the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, while defending his defection to APC from his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said, “This is no whimsical decision. It is a collective move by the political family in Enugu State. For nearly three decades, the PDP and the people of Enugu have walked side by side, united by shared purpose. Together, we built relationships that will always matter to me personally and to this state.
“Over the past months, I have thought carefully about the path forward. In the end, after much soul searching and discussion, I have concluded that we must stand for the principles and institutions that honour transparency, trust and, above all, the people we serve. “For decades, the South East, especially Enugu, has stood firmly behind the PDP, showing loyalty that shaped the party’s success.
Yet despite this history, our voices were too often disregarded when it mattered most. It has, therefore, become necessary to seek affiliation where our interests as a region are represented in the form of fair partnership.” The ones adduced by his counterpart in Delta were that “It is a movement; it is not a defection. After extensive consultations, we unanimously agreed that Delta must join the APC.
Our state cannot afford to remain in opposition after more than 10 years.” The argument of defectors and their supporters to many people does not hold water as the APC states are not doing better in governance than the opposition governors. After the 2023 general elections, the first-time governors considered to be delivering dividends of democracy more were governors of the opposition parties. The Abia State governor,
Enugu State, Delta State and Akwa Ibom State. However, since the governors of Akwa Ibom and Delta States defected to APC, their lights seem to have gone dim. Apparently, many believe that the defection of a politician to another party is for self-serving, and not serving the state or constituency.
According to them, the defectors are only trying to protect their political offices through the party they are defecting into. Another school of thought would say such defection if properly negotiated brings about much political largess to the state or constituency. For instance, they would argue that if a state aligns with the party at the national level, it leads to more political appointments for the state. Since it is at the discretion of the President to make appointments, most times he makes such appointments from the states that is being governed by his party.
Another advantage defectors allegedly enjoy for defecting into a ruling party is being shield from prosecution. Like it was said by the former National Chairman of the APC, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, once you join APC your sins are forgiven. So, the fear of the financial crime institutions also becomes a motivating factor.
But this is not total cast on stone as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukayode recently said that investigation of financial crimes against defectors will still continue. Speaking recently, through the Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC chairman said the defection of politically-exposed persons (PEPs) with pending corruption cases, will not stop ongoing investigations.
Uwajaren, who gave the assurance on behalf of the chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, said the EFCC has witnessed a lot of positive reforms in the last two years. The defection of politically-exposed persons (PEPs) with pending corruption cases, will not stop ongoing investigations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared. Leveraging on this, one could say that there is not much advantage in jumping ship politically. And like the Oyo State governor said it is the lack of political ideology that had necessitated that jumping. The political ideology’s absence in politicians is so evident with the Minister of FCT. One cannot understand the political ideology that Wike is working on.
There is not absolutely wrong with somebody in another party serving in the government of another party but you must serve in that government with the ideology of your party. Looking at what Wike said about APC as a ‘patient’ on stage 4 cancer, no one would have ever believed that he could touch anything that concerns APC with a long spoon. But here today is serving in that government with a confused ideology since it is obvious that he is in two political parties. Some people have argued that the spate of defection to the ruling party without consequences is affecting party politics. Some are of the view that defectors should be punished by losing their seats, others are of the opinion that no law provides for that.
Illegal defections
The President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe, (SAN), has argued that not even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the constitutional authority to declare the seat of any governor vacant on account of defection from one political party to another. He further cited the Supreme Court judgment in Atiku v. Attorney-General of the Federation, when it ruled that the constitutional provision on loss of seat due to defection applies only to legislators.
Even the legislator, the law is still not operational as many legislators have defected and maintained their seats. In fact, the judiciary, some have posited, has not helped democratic governance in so many ways including defection. A case of reference is what happened in Rivers State, where members of the State House of Assembly defected to the ruling APC from the PDP just for the court to rule in their favour that they never defected properly. The question is: what is the meaning of properly?
