As the 2019general elections approaches, Nigerian politicians are moving
\ncamps, divorcingand marrying new political suitors and erecting new shades
\nto ply theirpolitical trade. Defection, the choice name for this seasonal
\nmovement ofcamps, is at its peak period presently and this is so because
\nthe 2019 electionis just around the corner. For politicians, this is a
\ncritical moment whentheir fates in the coming election are decided. How
\nwell the parties meet one\u2019shope and desire informs whether he stays or
\nmoves camp. There is no more tothis than this unceasing foraging for
\ngreener political pastures. The gale ofdefection is here again! Not that
\nit had stopped before now but this is the seasonsfor it; when a fresh
\nelection knocks at the door and politicians take stock andprospect to the
\nfuture. Applying football terms, this is the peak of thetransfer window.
\nNothing is wrong with this because it is embodied in thefreedom of
\nassociation which is an essential provision of our laws.<\/p>\n
So,defection is a normal trend in politics so long as man is a restless
\npoliticalanimal and yearns for the appropriate space to ventilate his
\nnuances. InNigeria, defection is a seasonal fad and peaks as election
\napproaches. It is ahabitual search for the right clime to realise one\u2019s
\ndreams and ambition and solong as Nigeria is packed full with politicians
\nwho are desperately looking forgreener pastures, defection will always
\nhappen. Make no mistake about it, thereis nothing absolutely wrong with
\ndefection. There is nothing wrong withshifting base in the never-ending
\nsearch for political nests where one\u2019s dreamscould be realized. There is
\nnothing wrong in seeking out and joining anypolitical party that promises
\nyou the fulfilment of your political dreams. Sodefection will always
\nhappen in Nigeria if we are still practicing democracyand there is nothing
\none can do about it.<\/p>\n
In politics,interests are fixated but avenues to achieve those interests
\nare fluid. Inpolitics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, as the
\nregular aphorismgoes. In Nigerian politics in particular, the line that
\nseparates onepolitician from the other is so thin that some politicians
\nhave practicallytraversed all political parties in a bid to satisfy their
\nburning interests. Inmoving from one political party to the other, they
\nmake new friends with whomthey cohabit and work with for the period they
\nremain in those parties. So ifwe agree that there are no permanent friends
\nor foes, seasonal movement fromone camp to the other is a tolerable aspect
\nof our politics. So defection is achoice and hugely overused part of our
\npolitics. There is nothing one can doabout it than to hope to benefit from
\nit the next time for there will always bea next thing with defection.<\/p>\n
But then, ashas been well canvassed, defection becomes a problem if the
\ndefector takesalong with him the office he occupies by virtue of belonging
\nto his formerparty. In Nigeria, political offices belong to parties, not
\nindividuals.Political parties are the ones that canvass for votes and are
\nthe ones thatappear on the ballot during elections so it should be an
\narticle of honour andcompulsion for politicians moving from one camp to
\nthe other to resign from theoffices they occupy before joining another
\npolitical party. That should be therule. That should be the ideal. That
\nshould be the proper thing to do. But thatis not the case in Nigeria where
\nthe issues have been deliberately muddled upto create a diktat that
\nunjustly favour these defecting politicians and the newparties where they
\nberth and rob the parties they are defecting from. Thisamounts to robbing
\nPeter to pay Paul. It is another way of one eating his cakeand having it.
\nThat has been the problem with defection in Nigeria which hascreated so
\nmuch bad blood around this practice and further introduced wear andtear in
\nthe politics practiced in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Of what theNigerian law says about this, it states that the only reason
\npoliticians cantake their offices to their new destinations is where there
\nexists a divisionin the party that necessitates the politicians\u2019 departure
\nfrom his party. Sowhat most of the politicians and their cohorts seeking
\nto leave any party do isto create a fa\u00e7ade of division and leave with
\ntheir offices. Even where thereare no divisions, they still keep their
\noffices in the face of the weakness ofthe law and the judicial system to
\ndo the needful. In the long run, the lawthat recommends that a defecting
\npolitician leaves behind his office has becomea toothless bull dog that
\nhas hardly survived the antics of politicians.<\/p>\n
In thepresent dispensation, the seed for the reigning fad of politicians
\ndefectingwith their offices was sown when Senators Wahab Dosunmu and
\nAdeseye Ogunleweabandoned the AD party platform on which they were elected
\nto the Senate tojoin PDP shortly after the 1999 elections. Every effort
\nmade by the then AD toretrieve their mandates were stifled by the PDP
\nwhich was basking in theeuphoria of its commanding control of the
\npost-military politics then. Manymore senators and House of Assembly
\nmembers were to follow and they wereabsorbed by the willing arms of PDP
\nwho mocked all attempts to stick to the lawand prevent defectors from
\nleaving with their parties\u2019 mandates. It got worseas the PDP waxed
\nimmunity from all constitutional efforts to make it play fair.With its
\nstrengthened control of the democratic system in its 16 years, PDPeven
\nwent further to create division within the smaller parties and
\nharvestingthe aftermaths; defectors, officers, warts and all to its
\nburgeoning family.<\/p>\n
But nothinglasts forever. PDP was to be fed a dose of its medicine when
\nsome of itsgovernors, dissatisfied with the internal impunity within the
\nparty, revoltedand left its fold with their offices to join the fledgling
\nAPC which was anewly formed coalition of opposition parties commented to
\ndislodging theoctopoidal PDP from power in 2015. APC was to emerge
\nvictorious in the ensuinggeneral election and PDP\u2019s 16 years was brought
\nto an end.<\/p>\n
As the nextgeneral elections approach, some of those that left PDP to join
\nAPC startedwaxing displeased about how they were treated in APC and just
\nfew weeks ago,left to re-join PDP. They left with their offices, among
\nwhich is the SenatePresidency, even in the face of APC\u2019s threat to reclaim
\nthe office. Whateverpans out eventually is left to the imagination but the
\nbottom line is that thecountry\u2019s electoral and judicial systems must find
\nways of fixing the aberrationof defecting office holders taking their
\noffices with them when they areleaving the parties that sponsored them to
\npower. Settling this issue will dealwith some ugly fallout of such outcome
\nwhich may eventually harm the system.There is no moral right a defector
\nhas to rob the party he is defecting from ofits due right, which is the
\noffice he was occupying and vesting it unduly tothe party he is defecting
\nto. Good enough the Supreme Court had decided thatoffices belong to
\npolitical parties and not individuals. The benefits of fixingthis issue is
\nthat no one party claims the benefits as\u00a0 all are affected by its noxious
\nimpacts sincedefection is a game of musical chairs that has no fixed
\nlocation. It moves incircles to afflict those that benefit from this
\nunjust aspect at the next galeof defections.<\/p>\n
So there isevery imperative for a just provision of our laws to be made to
\nensure that noone leaves a party for another with the office he or she
\noccupies. At worst,such offices should be declared vacant to allow a fresh
\ncontest. There isnothing right about taking one party\u2019s office to another
\nparty. The resolutionof this issue is a win-win for everybody as it
\npreserves the integrity of thepeople as the ultimate decider of who
\noccupies one office or the other at anygiven time. It will ensure a
\ncleaner and credible playing field, help thesmaller parties to grow and
\nmost importantly, it will tame the inclination ofpoliticians to
\ncontinually shift camps to whichever side their bread isselfishly
\nbuttered.<\/p>\n
Peter ClaverOparah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the 2019general elections approaches, Nigerian politicians are moving camps, divorcingand marrying new political suitors and erecting new shades to ply theirpolitical trade. Defection, the choice name for this seasonal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n