Our funny party system is at the
heart of our political failings. Today, one is a member of the ruling Peoples’
Democratic Party (PDP), tomorrow he is in the “opposition” ranks of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), the day after
he is yet again a member of the PDP. One
can also be a founding member of a party, only to switch lanes to another party
before the blink of an eye. There are others whose party membership depends on
what time of the day it is. Yet others,
like Governor Okorocha, hold the title of the “most travelled decampee”, having tasted almost all
possible registered political parties in the land!
Not even in football would one find
the dearth of ideology as is present amongst our political parties. Cristiano Ronaldo
cannot “decamp” to Barcelona this week only to return to Real Madrid the
following week. It is not that easy because each club is founded on certain
fan/community loyalties. And this even applies to a foreign professional, who
is paid.
It is lack of political awareness
that is clogging our democracy. It is the reason why PDP is APC and APC is
PDP. It is why both – and all others –
are failing. Ideology, a way of life, a belief system, a sense of belonging is
what should make someone like Oyinlola stay in the PDP rather than to cross
carpet to the APC days before the governorship election in Osun State. It is OK
to argue and agree or agree to differ but parties and their constitutions must
be strong enough to operate within a set of rules that all the members can
respect and trust. In saner political climes, one’s membership of a party is as
a result of a genuine alignment with its set of principles and beliefs.
So, those who move from one party to
another are reflective of our poor political culture. The party is a brand, and
brands command loyalty. The brand has a clearly stated goal and manifesto and
promises to the electorate are drawn from a list of deliverables put forward by
its management. A peep into the so-called manifestos of the PDP and APC tells
an appalling story – the one reads like a poor copy of the other. This is why
individuals are bigger than the party. Party supremacy is a hoax in the
Nigerian system because its structure is so weak that it cedes power to its
members elected into public offices as soon as elections are over. The
president controls the machinery of his party at national level; the state
governors do so at that level. Smaller parties with little national presence,
such as the Labour Party and APGA, concede party supremacy to their respective
governors in Ondo and Anambra. This way, we make emperors of our president and
governors; power simply slips away from the hands of the people to the hands of
their elected representatives, who are supposed to be servants to the people and
representatives of their party’s creed.
Our politics is immature, and this
is why we have turbulence in the land. But there is hope. Al-Makura’s impeachment
in Nassarawa has failed; hopefully, a herald of sanity. Whenever we thwart the
will of a would-be dictator, we expand the boundaries of freedom.
However, we should not lose sight of
the fact that it is not true that a governor cannot be impeached for cross
carpeting. I am particularly buttressed in this view by the fact that a
fundamental and qualifying step to becoming governor is that you must belong to
a political party. It is part of the laziness and apathy of the PDP and APC
that they have failed/refused to test this concept in impeachment proceedings.
By the way, it is actually a travesty of justice when, in the name of immunity,
allegations of a criminal act are not investigated. There are too many ironies
in the provisions of our laws.
The summary of my position is that
justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. Any provision which
protects potential criminals and postpones the legal process, whilst allowing
the accused to continue to exercise functions of a state, is not only
unconscionable but also inimical to the concepts of justice and democracy. It
is this absurdity that makes elected officers jostle to tighten their grips on
party machinery. This way, political power belongs to them, as well as the
means of gaining it, so that they could operate above the law without the fear
of being voted out as long as they are with the right political cohorts.
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