No one can dispute the abysmal level of understanding of Nigerian politicians when it comes to the majesty of democracy. Therefore, no one should be surprised at their lack of sophistication in its practice. This realization should, therefore, compel pity instead of condemnation over the current needless crisis rocking the leadership of the governing All Progressive Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Though conflicts and their resolution are ingredients of democracy, the internecine nature of the problems in the two major political parties is not healthy for the stability and consolidation of democracy. All politicians must appreciate the fact that Nigeria is greater than any person or group of persons. The promotion of the national interest, rather than its retardation should be the primary concern of all. The pursuit of selfish and sectional interests has no place, especially in a country still grappling with its own identity and soul as a united nation. Politicians must play the game according to the rules. All Nigerians can and should do is ask them to grow up!
Despite winning commanding majorities at local, state and federal levels, the ruling APC party got embroiled in a leadership anomie which culminated with the suspension of the national chairman and the eventual dissolution of the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee. This precipitated a cascading legal fracas that saw three chairmen emerged all laying claim to the party chairmanship. It took the personal intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari to restore some semblance of normalcy. Today, the ruling party is managed by a caretaker committee led by Governor Mai-Mala Buni. Despite the semblance of unity, the APC is still at war with itself as the NWC is at daggers drawn with the party’s governors. In the on-going PDP crisis pitting the party chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, the situation has degenerated to the point where judges presiding over the same courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction have been granting injunctions and ex parte motions with appellate import which amounts to an abuse of the justice system. It is shameful and indeed reprehensible; to the extent where the Chief Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed had to summon six chief justices whose courts have been involved in this abuse with regard to the PDP case and election matters in Anambra, Jigawa and Imo.
While the conventional wisdom is that disagreements are an integral part of democracy, the rash of intra-party conflicts being witnessed now is hardly conventional and should be correctly viewed as a threat to the stability and survival of Nigeria’s democracy. The phenomenon casts fundamental doubt on the degree of institutionalization of party politics in general as well as the decency and democratic credentials of politicians in particular. This deterioration also questions the conflict management capabilities of Nigerian political parties, thereby portending grave danger to the future of democracy. All parties must remember that history repeats itself whether or not its lessons have been imbibed.
The major highlight of the history of party politics in Nigeria is how intra-party crises contributed to the collapse of the First Republic in 1966. Central to this was the Western Region crisis of 1963-64. The crisis was a major fall-out of the intra-party squabble in the Action Group (AG), following irreconcilable personality clashes between Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola. The poor management of that schism, coupled with the penetration of vested interests, particularly the federal government, led to the first military coup of 1966. That the same problem is afflicting Nigeria today, albeit in a much more devastating manner, is troubling. It is, indeed, not only a reflection of the untoward degeneration of democratic norms and principles but more importantly, an indication of the unwillingness and/or inability of the so-called democratic players to learn from history. This is a sad irony that must worry all Nigerians. Worse still, this indecency is not peculiar to one political party or level of government. Rather, it has gone completely viral so much so that all political parties, ruling or opposition, big or small are mired in one crisis or another.
Of all the evils assailing Nigeria’s democracy, two stand out: opportunism and impunity. And both must be uprooted before they choke the struggling seeds of democracy to death. This is a starting point that will go a long way in assuaging popular clamor and agitation for a competitive party system in Nigeria. One of the advantages of a competitive party system is that whichever party or group of parties happens to be exercising political power at a particular time is aware of the determination of a rival party or group of parties to dislodge it from power. For this reason, the party in power tries hard to be as efficient and effective as possible so that those out of power will find it difficult to defeat it whenever elections are held. A second advantage of competitive party system is that the political education of citizens is enhanced by the efforts of rival parties. The third and perhaps the most significant advantage of a competitive party system is that it allows citizens to choose between different persons and in most cases, between different policies with the opportunity of a viable alternative that puts the government of the day on its toes. In which case, whatever happens, the people always win. APC, PDP or whatever party wins is not as important as that Nigerians win at all times.
Whether it ends up in government or not, any party must have a clear agenda and a clear focus. Hence the crisis rocking the leadership of the two major political parties underscore the travails Nigeria’s democracy has had to endure all along and how democracy has been bastardised to have a peculiarly Nigerian definition, making a mockery of the beautiful ideal. Party structures have been hijacked by governors, political godfathers, money bags et al, all because they want people’s political fortune to be tied inextricably to their persons.
The battle for the control of these structures rages on fiercely, sometimes threatening the peace of the polity and its beleaguered people who are traumatized by hunger, poverty, decrepit infrastructure, receding fortune, medieval diseases, corruption and above all, inept government totally lacking in idea. The restiveness that cuts across virtually all the political parties today is a consequence of the fight for the control of the party structures at all levels of political leadership. The stress and distraction which it constitutes to governance and efficient delivery of democracy dividends cannot be over-emphasized. Rabid loyalty to supposed party leaders and not to the party itself is the order of the day as that is what fetches goodwill for party members. Appointment is not a function of competence or suitability but how loyal a party member is to the political godfather who calls the shot.
This breeds sycophancy, indiscipline, corruption, mediocrity and insensitive leadership which governance has come to be identified with today in Nigeria. In all of these, it is democracy that loses its luster as the political parties become considerably emasculated and replaced with the supremacy of party leaders or godfathers. The consequence of this impunity is that the Nigerian people are denied the opportunity of having democratically elected leaders, an aberration that does little credit to Nigerian democracy. In the countdown to the 2015 general election, the inability of the PDP to effectively manage its internal affairs led to an intractable conflict, a balkanization of the party into camps, the old and the new PDP, leading to the eventual defection of a significant proportion of the new PDP to the APC. Yet, the defection was not sufficient to arrest the crisis. It ultimately led to the removal of Bamanga Turkur as PDP national chairman. The attendant tension associated with the conflict overstretched the elastic limits of the fabric of the party and remains even till now poised to tear that fabric beyond repair.
The APC has not fared any better. Allegations and counter-allegations of lack of internal party democracy have been rocking the party. This has come with its own tension and intrigues. On a more general level, the party has sunk deeper into conflict over the politics of 2023 and zoning of the presidential ticket. The challenge of deciding which geopolitical zone will produce the party’s presidential candidate has, more than anything else, created problems and in some extreme cases, outright confrontation between members of the party over ownership and control of party structures. Governance has simply been turned into the impoverishment of the people and impunity as well as pursuit of inordinate ambition by self-seeking politicians. Indeed, there has been no real governance output for a while but this is now being made worse by politicking over 2023.
Nigerians cannot afford to be complacent with their silence. The people should be fully prepared to hold politicians accountable for their actions. They must raise vital questions regarding their conduct and utterances. After bearing the burden of the struggles that birthed the current democratic experiment, Nigerians cannot afford to fold their arms while a few selfish elements wittingly or unwittingly work towards pulling down the edifice. Politicians may do themselves and the country some good if they expend what is left of their time to remedy the deficits in the political process and strengthen the haphazard and whimsical policies they have initiated. Equally, this is the time for the people to shake off their lethargy and hold their leaders accountable for their actions and inactions.
