Political defection as ideological untruth

Monday Column By Hameed M. Bello, PhD

hamdbelo@yahoo.co.uk

It is called by various names across sections of the social divide including media reporters and politicians as well – defection, decamping, criss crossing, cross carpeting, switching, abandoning, dumping etc. But we are not fans of those who sometimes ascribe to it impressionistic terms such as political flirting or political prostitution because the symbolism therein may not be too courteous. However, the arbitrary, uncontrolled movement of politicians in Nigeria from one political party to another at the slightest opportunity has become intractable. Nobody can stop them, and there seems to be no solution in sight. Not even the law has conclusively dealt with this worrisome trend. The political parties themselves are helpless whenever their members, especially those holding elective offices and others who rode on the party’s goodwill to attain prominence, jump ship midway into their mandate. The defecting politicians usually show no remorse and are quick to rationalise or ‘naturalise’ their action, with some citing issues like injustice, lack of internal party democracy, prevailing local politics in their constituencies and some other imaginary grievances. Their defection usually comes after they had used the party to secure confidence and trust of party members only to betray the same afterwards. The defecting politicians had earlier campaigned and made promises to the voters on the basis of the ideology of the party. This is the popular and most disturbing defection we know which is tainted by a moral question, even though experience has shown that morality and politics are not best of friends. 

Just last week, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, added his voice to the growing public concern over the unwholesome switching of parties by our political actors. The ex NBA president, a sound lawyer, said in a report that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needed to act as a strong regulator of the electoral process by exploiting its constitutional powers to curtail uncontrolled switching of parties. 

Agbakoba said it is important to restate the constitutional powers of INEC as the ultimate regulator of the electoral process “because INEC appears to have forgotten the powers assigned to it in relation to the political and electoral process”.

In the Thursday statement, Agbakoba was quoted as saying “The arbitrary defections of politicians from one party to another calls for strong regulatory control by INEC. The lack of internal democracy in most political parties has failed to receive robust regulatory response by INEC.

“The Nigerian political system needs INEC to act as a strong regulator. I suggest that INEC is entitled to withdraw certificates of return issued to elected office holders who defect. INEC ought not to be afraid of getting it wrong. INEC must be seen as a firm referee with clear rules and a determination to enforce those rules.

“To demonstrate this, INEC needs to clarify its position on how the 2023 elections will be conducted. INECs recent statement that elections will be conducted manually and electronically is confusing – as it allows politicians opportunity for mischief ….”

The key suggestions by Agbakoba as they relate to the current context are that INEC should apply strong regulatory control, and also withdraw certificates of return earlier issued to all defecting politicians. If INEC should heed to the call, and proceed to implement this constitutional power which it is said to have but has not fully utilised, all those who defect while holding elective positions will automatically lose them. This will not only prevent willful cross carpeting, but will also usher in some sanity and decency in promoting ideological politics – remain in the party that brought you to power. 

We learn from the experience of the  USA, the mother of modern democracy, that politicians are necessarily custodians and defenders of party ideology and ought to remain so whether they lose or win elections. This explains why The Democrats and Republicans have remained the two dominant political parties, with most American voters queuing behind either of the two on the basis of their ideological leanings and convictions. They do so for a long time whether they win or lose elections. 

Established traditions show that American political ideologies usually align with the left–right political spectrum, with most Americans identifying as liberal, moderate, or conservative. Modern American liberalism is defined by welfare capitalism and social liberalism, developing during the Progressive Era and the Great Depression. Modern American conservatism is defined by social conservatism and economic liberalism, developing as a response to the New Deal and the civil rights movement. Besides modern liberalism and conservatism, the United States has a notable libertarian movement, and historical political movements in the United States have been shaped by ideologies as varied as republicanism, populism, separatism, socialism, monarchism, and nationalism. These have been the determining factors  for political conviction and party loyalty among the American people over the years. 

Quite unlike the USA, Nigerian politicians do not seem to show commitment to party supremacy and ideology. They are quick to move once their personal interests suffer some setback, not minding whether their movement will have adverse effects on party fortunes, or even dampen the morale of their constituency. Many of them also retained their positions but abandoned the platform that gave them legitimacy. This is where the suggestions by Agbakoba come in handy. 

Three cases in our recent experience could illustrate this dilemma. Three sitting Governors, first of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle, of Cross River, Ben Ayade, and most recently of Ebonyi state, David Umahi have retained their governorship after defecting from the party that brought them to power. Prior to Umahi’s defection in November 2021 from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, the Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, had similarly dumped the PDP for the APC in June. Matawalle’s defection was about a month after his Cross River State counterpart, Ben Ayade, had left the PDP also for the APC. The three governors are still holding their positions today in spite of the legal tussle, the litigation and counter litigation that attended the developments.

It is hoped that the Nigerian experience with democracy which was copied from the USA will improve with time, with politicians making conscious efforts to play truly ideological party politics to entrench deeper democratic culture that will boost development. The situation whereby politicians switch party after getting elected and retain their positions could portray them as political opportunists taking advantage of the lacuna in our statutes, or plotting to gatecrash into the dominant political order and leverage the available opportunities. INEC ought to take up the gauntlet.