By Emeka Alex Duru
Aside absence of ideology, other major drawbacks to the development of party democracy in Nigeria are the factors of indiscipline and sabotage. Neither the ruling political party, nor those in opposition are spared of this menace.
The other day in Enugu, for instance, the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), raised a flag of obvious presence of saboteurs among its fold. At its zonal meeting, the party reaffirmed its strong support for the candidacy of Abukakar Atiku and Peter Obi, warning those that are out to sabotage their efforts to beware of the wrath of the people. The warning did not come to many as a surprise. In fact, shortly after the emergence of Atiku as the presidential candidate and his nomination of Obi as his running mate, it was obvious that the South East zonal leadership of the party was not comfortable with the choice.
The chieftains, led by Chairman of South East Governors Forum, David Umahi (Ebonyi) and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had in a surprising news conference, expressed disgust that they were not consulted on Obi’s nomination, alleging that they learnt of it from the social media. Ever since, there have been insinuations that they have not been with the party in its activities. Though they have individually made attempts to advertise the impression of loyalty to the party, the suspicion of their working against it remains high. Their marginal presence at major PDP outings, also adds to the suspicion.
For the APC, the incidence of its various leaders working at cross purposes with the party, equally runs very high. Last week in Owerri, Imo State, the disagreement between the governor, Rochas Okorocha and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, over the party’s chances in the March governorship election, further exposed the friction in the party. At the rally, organised by the South East Zonal Women of the party, Mrs. Buhari, who was represented by the Vice President’s wife, Dolapo Osinbajo, had called on the supporters of APC, to vote for Hope Uzodinma, the APC flag bearer in the state and other candidates of the party, at all levels adding that APC, will win in all the states..
Her appeal for Uzodinma to be voted for, was however challenged by Okorocha, who asked the electorate to vote for his immediate past chief of staff and son-in-law, Uche Nwosu. In taking the step, Okorocha had alleged that the APC had not been fair to him and the state wing of the party. He said, “the APC has not been fair to us. We are only being calm because of President Muhammadu Buhari who already has won in Imo State. We are going to support Buhari but let me tell you people, after we were cheated by the APC, in order to deliver the President, we formed an alliance with other political parties and leading among them is AA (Action Alliance) led by Uche Nwosu. APC, owes Imo people an apology because of the injustice meted to Imo people. Nwosu will win Imo state. It is not anti-party. We refused imposition in Imo state.”
The governor had worked for Nwosu to emerge the governorship candidate and possibly succeed him in the state but the panel that was sent by APC to organise the governorship primary in Imo, led by erstwhile presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, had pronounced Uzodinma the winner in a manner that sparked controversies among some members. The inability of Okorocha to get his way in the ensuing politics, saw his lieutenants, including the Speaker of the state assembly, Acho Ihim and other 18 lawmakers, defecting to AA. The governor, is incidentally, holding on to his Imo West (Orlu) Senatorial ticket on APC platform.
This is the situation in Ogun State, where the governor, Ibikunle Amosun, in failing to hand over the ticket of the party to his protégé, Adekunle Akinlade, encouraged him to cross over to Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to pursue his ambition. The governor had lost out in the battle of selecting the candidate for the party to Dapo Abiodun, said to be a loyalist of former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu. His efforts at reversing the situation did not yield fruits. Not even his touted closeness with President Buhari could save the day for him. Thus frustrated at all fronts, the governor encouraged his favoured candidate to defect to the APM, while keeping his senatorial ticket.
“None of these characters could have tried this nonsense in the advanced democracies where the supremacy of the party reigns. How could a Donald Trump, the American President or any of the governors sponsor a candidate against one sponsored by his party in an election, even if he disagrees with the party’s choice? Even here, could any of them have tried it in Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) or the Adeniran Ogunsanya-led Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) of the Second Republic? It rather shows the level of degeneration in Nigeria’s contemporary politics. It shows the laxity in party discipline and leadership”, a visibly exasperated Senior Lecturer in History, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Ikenna Odife, told our reporter. He called for a halt in the creeping trend before it becomes a norm in the country’s politics.
Bad as the situation in party discipline seems, informed analysts note that it had been evolving in the current dispensation since the Olusegun Obasanjo era, when the administration created some parties as fall back platforms for favoured candidates who could not make it in their original political parties, essentially to win elections and subsequently returns to their main platforms. It was in this respect that such political parties as Accord Party and AA, came into being.
In the Goodluck Jonathan era, the menace persisted. In that period even, some governors were known to have openly worked against their parties in their states and federal level. Senator Godswill Akpabio, former Akwa Ibom state governor, made the startling revelation in a recent interview when he admitted his mind being for Buhari while pretending to be working for Jonathan, the PDP candidate. Akpabio, was then, incidentally a PDP governor.
Our correspondent gathered that even as preparations for the February and March general elections gather steam, those bent on sabotaging their parties are exploring various strategies at actualizing their sordid plots.
