After four years of speculation, feet dragging and rabid denials, the defection of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade from the main opposition PDP to the ruling APC, dramatizes in spectacular fashion; the growing contradictions of Nigeria’s 4th Republic as a theatre of political absurdity which the nation has become, in the countdown to the 2023 elections. Ayade announced his defection on Thursday at the executive council chamber of the Governor’s office while hosting seven APC governors; among them Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Hope Uzodinma (Imo); Simon Lalong (Plateau); Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa); and the chairman of APC national caretaker committee and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni. Also present was the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva. Lacking in any principled intention to develop the structure and content of partisan politics, Ayade’s defection, like others before him, is nothing more than self-seeking, whimsical and disdainful political opportunism. Nigerian democracy has been so much debased; and it is indeed unfortunate that the political field is tainted with defections from one party to another in ways that underline the ideological poverty of political parties and the self-centeredness of politicians. This shameful political prostitution by Ayade is made more painful because this is the time Nigeria needs men and women of character.
Before formally decamping to the APC, Ayade held a two-hour meeting with the APC delegation featuring the state deputy governor, Ivara Esu, State House of Assembly Speaker, Eteng Williams Jones and members of the state house of assembly, some National Assembly members, members of the Cross River State Executive Council, local government chairmen, councilors and some stakeholders, including Dame Princess Florence Ita-Giwa and High Chief Asuquo Ekpenyong amongst others. Announcing his decision to dump the PDP, Ayade declared that henceforth, Cross River has become an APC state, and urged all his supporters to go to their respective wards and register with the APC. Whether Ayade’s supporters will join his decamping remains to be seen, but as the plot for his defection thickened, all 18 LGA chairmen, vice-chairmen, 196 councilors, and over 6,000 appointees staged a solidarity rally for Ayade last month at Millennium square, saying they were ready to “swim or sink with him.”
Explaining why he joined the APC, Ayade highlighted the character attributes of President Muhammadu Buhari and the calculation that Cross River, which has been economically emasculated following the ceding of its oil wells, needed to be in sync with the party holding power at the center. Hear him: “Having seen and known the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his commitment to this country, his nationalistic disposition and all the efforts he has made to bring Nigeria to where we are today, it is obvious that at this point we needed to join hands with him to build a Nigeria that we can be proud of. We need all governors to recognize that it is not party that matters. It is character, it is honor; it is commitment to the vision of this great nation. We all need to as a team work ahead of the president by working towards building a prosperous country that the succession worries of 2023 will come without the fears and the worries the international community has for us”, he declared adding: “I believe that if everyone of us as governor joins hands with Mr. President, I think we can sit on the same dining table and fashion out a way to govern this country.”
Before now, Ayade and his marionettes had missed no occasion to vilify journalists for reporting on his planned defection. His decamping is, however, not a surprise given his body language after he lost control of the PDP structure in the state and fell out of favor with the PDP national establishment. Whatever motivations may have informed Ayade’s action, the reasons he proffered constitute an insult to the collective intelligence of the Nigerian people who have been victims of the insecurity, corruption, tribalism and incompetence of the Buhari administration for the past six years. Is Ayade living in Nigeria? Does Ayade think Nigerians are fools not to see beneath his self-centered pedestrianism? Judging by the lame excuses Ayade, it is clear that gluttonous materialistic wooliness, primitive accumulation, and other spoils of office are the primary motivations of Ayade’s decision, not service to Nigeria as he claims. This is indeed shameful and pathetic but Ayade is not alone.
As political parties gear up for the next general elections, democracy has been rendered meaningless where it should be most fervently exemplified. From defections to boycotts, to rival factions holding rival primaries, poverty of leadership is evident everywhere with perilous implications for democracy in the country. Predictably, the primaries will be an all-comers affair of contractors, lawbreakers, political hangers-on and sundry jobbers, all lacking in the requisite knowledge for governance. Power and money have become instruments of statecraft in the hands of the ruling party, while vanity or indiscernible ideas characterize the opposition. The situation is so deplorable and so scary that helpless Nigerians are wringing their hands in anguish, as they watch the intrigues, backroom deals, and horse- trading amidst pseudo-legal moves to determine who emerges candidate at various levels. In the last 21 years, the quality of political leadership at all levels has remained generally low. At a time when the nation’s political experience needs sound footing in democratic governance, the absence of any identifiable ideology and internal democracy testifies to the lack of character in all the political parties. If this odious political state is not a reflection of the way Nigeria is, then what is?
The governorship races have remained rancorous, speculative and bitter. For incumbent and outgoing governors both in the ruling party and the opposition, the primaries have become a contest for them to affirm their control on party structures; and in the face of their terminal might, ensure the emergence of their successors and loyalists. The ambience is dotted by pockets of protests, threats, blackmail and show of might. Across Nigeria, the aspirants are putting finishing touches amidst tales of sacks of money changing hands. When the ruling party adopts the incumbent, barring every other potential candidate for the presidency; the governors see that as a green light to pick house reps or senators for the national parliament; some governors even handpick their family members and in-laws as successors in the most blatant and unconscionable disrespect for internal party democracy. Nothing is more unworthy of leadership than to degrade the system by which one attains fulfillment, and this is what has been happening all across the country.
In another sense, the present state of political cannibalism is merely a reflection of the pitiable national life to which the average Nigerian is being continually exposed. The political class as a whole has shown impetuous and irresponsible behavior at the expense of the people. Amid the intrigues of who is up that should be brought down; and who is down that should be crucified and buried, sinister plots are hatched, hopes are raised and dashed and negotiations simmer down to questions like: “Which zone will produce the president?” “Should we trade the governor’s ticket for the Senate?” “Should we allow direct or indirect primaries?” All these raise the question: what is the character of the Nigerian politician? What, in their thinking, is the whole purpose of public office? Unfortunately, in all of these, the Nigerian people are the ultimate losers. What Nigerians expect from every candidate for elective office in the coming elections, is a well thought-through and clearly articulated blueprint to build a great country. Unfortunately, none of the candidates; not even those vying for the presidency even bother to outline a political vision and mission for a better Nigeria, let alone show how it will be attained.
By now, Nigerians, irrespective of party affiliation, have a reasonably good idea of the wherefore of an APC administration. Almost six years since a hope-raising, spirit lifting “change” and “change to the next level” agenda was propounded by Buhari, it is no exaggeration to say very few Nigerians lives have been changed for the better. The political atmosphere ahead of 2023 is gloomy, compounded by insecurity where terrorists and kidnappers and killer Fulani herdsmen have reduced Nigeria into a killing field. Questions must therefore be asked about what kind of Nigeria these politicians are jostling to govern? Boko Haram criminality has dealt a devastating blow to any claim to good governance, and this should worry any politician who professes one Nigeria. The dog-eat-dog politics being played with defections by politicians is a disgrace of immeasurable proportions. The defections, horse-trading, and back room dealing that underlines these defections is a shameful phenomenon that graphically retells the odious rat race, ideological vacuity and mundane craving that typify Nigeria’s political elite.
To this end, it calls to question the capacity, moral integrity and character of the average Nigerian politician. With the blood of her citizens already being wantonly shed, Nigeria, indeed, does not need this kind of egg on her face. Politicians should realize that unless insecurity is effectively tackled, there may be no country to govern after 2023. Candidates who seek office at all levels must dwell less on where Nigeria is, which is already well known, and more on where the candidate wants to take the country and how. Nigerians, of course, should know and take seriously the fact that their future lies in their vote and should choose those they elect wisely.
