By Dan Amor
It is a sickening reality in Nigeria
that defection, the act of leaving one political party for another, also called
carpet-crossing, or what the eminent poet and humorist, Uzor Maxim-Uzoatu called
“Jumpology” (the political act of
jumping from party to party), has been elevated to the height of a national
ideology.
*Nuhu Ribadu, Murtala Nyako and Atiku Abubakar
(pix:pointblanknews)
This glamourisation of political
prostitution by Nigerian politicians signals the death of commonsense. Before
the December 2013 defection of 37 members of the House of Representatives
elected on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the
opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in an open show and fanfare, four
PDP governors had led the way in a much more rehearsed, media pampered
braggadocio in November 2013. Many Nigerians believed that despite the larger
implications of the defection with regards to the 2015 political permutations,
nothing had really changed. Nigerians who are no longer shocked or surprised at
the sheer ingenuity of the defection gale which has seen some politicians
changing parties more than they change their agbada, have unanimously called for a stop to this wayward
political culture.
Consequently, the recent Abuja Federal
High Court order asking the 37 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to the APC
to resign their positions as members of the National Assembly, has been hailed
by well-meaning Nigerians who want a clean break from the ugly past and present
when politics is played without adherence to any democratic ethos, ethics and
principles. Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in this courageous and landmark judgment,
told the lawmakers that they had lost their competence, to vote or contribute
to any proceedings in the House declaring that the legislators had no moral or
legal sanctity or authority to be called Federal lawmakers having defected from
the party on whose platform they won election to the Green Chambers. This
judgment has aborted the conspiracy of the opposition politicians who thought
that with a simple majority in the House they could change the House leadership
and proceed to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan.
With the slamming of a perpetual
injunction on the House restraining the defecting lawmakers from effecting any
leadership change in the House of Representatives, Justice Ademola has once
more demonstrated that it is the judiciary that has the legal and moral
authority to interpret the constitution as the safety value or sole arbiter of
the common-man. Despite the mixed reactions that trailed the judgment depending
on which side of the divide one is common from, the message has been sent
already without equivocation or compromise, that there is a huge awakening in
our collective journey to the comity of democratic nations of the world. But if
you think that the judgment favours only the ruling party, then you got it
wrong. Careful watchers of our party politics all over the world are worried
over the wanton derogation of our democracy by this ugly phenomenon of
defection. What makes it even more beguiling is that because people go into
politics not to serve but to loot the national patrimony, the moment they are
less favored with the largesse of office in their current party, they jump the
boat to where they feel their interests would be protected.
*Tambuwal on a courtesy visit to Oshiomole
(pix:savidnews)
Whether they belong to the ruling or
opposition party, these people have been part of the decadent Nigerian system,
and are experts in the manipulation of the Nigerian people for selfish
political gain. Even as the political pendulum appears to be tilting towards a
balanced two-party political arrangement, which is good for the growth of our
democracy, our politicians can still reclaim their reputation and the sanctity
of their high offices, so severely muddied by the debauchery of defection if
they resigned from the position which they got on the platform of their former
party in spite of any precedent or not. This is more so because our
constitution does not recognize independent candidature but political parties.
The young are taught that in a
democracy all power resides in the people. And that in a free enterprise system
all authority rests with the sovereign consumer operating through the
impersonal mechanism of the market. For a politician to now defect from a party
on whose platform he won the people’s mandate to another without surrendering
the mandate to the people amounts to undermining sovereignty which ultimately
belongs to the people. This position, according to John Kenneth Galbraith, the
erudite Paul M Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus at Harvard University
In fact, the case of the 37 defecting
lawmakers has exposed the soft underbelly of our lawyers who are polarized
along party lines. It is sad that even members the so called radical wing of
the bar, are consumed by this shameless partisanship in our polity. It is the
obituary of ideology. Supposing Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAM, SAN) were to be
alive, he would have hailed the exquisite judgment of Justice Ademola, meaning
he would have voted for justice, morality and commonsense and not sheer
theatrics and propaganda. The country needs judicial activism and radical
judgments like the type delivered by Justice Ademola for this fledgling
democracy to stabilize. It is indeed the duty of the Supreme Court to promote
the growth and stability of this democracy and the unity of the country.
For instance, in the history of
democratic development of the United
States of America Warren Court US
*Govs Rotimi Amaechi and Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso
(pix:thescoopng)
But, ultimately what is at issue here is not the political party
involved but the moral responsibility or otherwise of the politician as a
public trust. For, you see, my sweet dreams have long been haunted by this sad
infighting and lack of understanding among Nigerian politicians. There is
indeed one thing we should know: the average politician should be a classic
exponent of learning and morality. By the range and depth of his knowledge and
experience he should lead virtue. All things being equal, the equanimity of the
politician should not be vitiated by the nuances of his personal background or
business interest.
*Rochas Okorocha
If therefore our new-breed politicians
cannot rise above parochial group or personal interests, what moral
justifications have they to criticize the existing backward-looking social
system in our society? Or when shall our polity emerge from the dark laboratory
of revolting dissembling and ethno-religious cross-breeding? Politics must
always profess and end in view which, roughly speaking, appears to be a decent
and mature struggle for power and judicious allocation of resources.
The
politician’s task, therefore, appears to be clearly cut out for him; and it
ought to be comparatively easy to decide whether be performs it satisfactorily,
and in general, what kinds of political actions are useful and what are otiose.
But on giving the matter a little attention, we perceive that politics, far
from being a simple and orderly field of activity from which impostors can be
readily ejected, is no better than a Sunday park of contending and contemptuous
orators who are yet to arrive at the articulation of their differences. Here,
one would suppose, was a place for quiet co-operative labour.
The politician, one would suppose, if
he is to justify his existence, should endeavor to discipline his personal
prejudices and cranks, tares to which we are all subject, and compose his
differences with as many of his fellows as possible, in the common pursuit of
responsible politics. While it is very necessary to tolerate the practice of
radical politics as a vital weapon for the social advancement of any given
nation; while it is very necessary for us to realize that there are certain
national issues that transcend personal or even tribal sentiments, it is also
very necessary for us to cultivate the habit of objectivity as an inevitable
therapy for political survival-all in business of moving our nation forward.
*Tom Ikimi
But we find out that the fair-weather
politician owes his livelihood to the intellectual convalescence and political
chicanery of his time, or else, to some trifling oddities of his own which he
contrives to season the opportunistic positions which men already hold, and
which, out of vanity or sloth they prefer to maintain. Our intolerant
politicians must address themselves to this nagging pestilence. The gale of
political defection must be halted for this democracy to stabilize no matter
the party involved.
The judiciary has the whip.
And the revolution must start with the landmark judgment of Justice
Ademola. The recent illegal defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal has reinforced
this argument. He has not even tendered his defection letter to the House and
he is causing hoopla in the media. Invoking the doctrine of separation of
powers to buoy up our growing intolerance is the acme of deception. There is no
water-tight separation of powers anywhere in the world without checks and
balances.
----------------------------
Amor, an Abuja-based journalist and public affairs analyst, is a contributor to SCRUPLES He could be reached with danamor67@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment