2027: Interesting political moves unfold

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

Nothing summarises the recent gathering of Nigerian politicians across party divides during a conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria than the words of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives when the disciples asked Him the signs to watch out for, for the end and beginning of eras.

Jesus Christ was very explicit in his response: “watch out that no one deceives you… You will hear of wars and rumours of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed… Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

True to His words, the gathering of the politicians, their engagements in sporadic attacks, and endless war of words, which surprisingly compare with high-capacity earthquake in magnitude, are all clear signs that another election in around the corner.

The gathering, to brainstorm on the challenges confronting Nigeria’s democracy, was, according to many pundits, tailored towards kick-starting the build-up to the 2027 general elections.

Expectedly, the participants are the usual suspects, drawn from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), chieftains, and key players from almost all the 19 registered political parties, religious clergies, traditional institutions, disgruntled active and retired politicians.

Notable among those who attended were the representative of Vice President Kashim Shettima, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the 2023 presidential candidates of both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively, former governors Obong Victor Attah of Akwa-Ibom, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Rivers, Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Kaduna, Emeka Ihedioha, Imo, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Kwara, and Waziri Tambuwa, Sokoto.

Others were past Ministers like Bolaji Abdullahi, Youth and Sports, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Minister of State for Education, and former lawmakers like Senators Ben Obi, Abiodun Olujimi among many other dignitaries.

From their utterances, comments, and to the communiqué, the contents were laced with vengeance and fury against the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was obvious that there was more to the gathering than meets the eye in what pundits described as superficial claims to finding the solution to the myriads of challenges bedevilling Nigeria democracy.

Whatever iota of pretence they must have harboured, their demands, as contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the conference, ranging from the consensus that democracy is facing a serious threat, opposition political parties should unite under a strong, viable coalition, to the appeals for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register a new political party, apparently gave them out.

For example, speaking as a thematic discussant of a paper, titled “Party Politics and Political Integrity: The Role of Political Parties and Opposition in Democracy”, Atiku blamed every institution, individual, and organ of government other than himself for the failure of democracy in Nigeria.

He said: “There is no doubt that our democracy is at a crossroads. Put simply, it is at the risk of eroding completely. And it is not caused by one single person or one single administration. In fact, a number of us have been warning over the years that we may come to this point if we lose our vigilance and fail to take corrective actions to protect and deepen our democracy.”

Atiku further submitted that “let me conclude by saying that it will be difficult for those currently in power to accept these reform proposals but no one or party stays in power indefinitely. Besides, reforms should not be focused on just today but on the future, as well.”

Similarly, speaking, on the side-line, on his biggest takeaway from the stakeholders’ engagement, going by the Ghana experience, Obi said: “it is about the will of the people. The people must be in charge. It is about serving the people, and that is most critical. This conversation has been on for a long time. It is now time for us to take action because you can see where it brought us to.

“We now live in an insecure country. We now live in a country that is breeding poverty every day. People are suffering. So many people don’t know where the next meal will come from,” he said.

However, if the contributions of the duo of Atiku and Obi could be considered diplomatic, Mallam El-Rufai, who spoke as a discussant at the event, was more hostile in his description of APC as a party without ideals, and which abandoned its founding principles. He also criticised the quality of leadership emerging from the current political parties.

While describing the state of governance and opposition in the country as a “national emergency”, El-Rufai blamed the problem of democracy in the country on the illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people in the position of leadership.

Hear him: “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show, or it is a zero-man show. You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today,” he said.

Although he claimed that he is not leaving the APC, he was however blunt to say that; “the problems that led to the creation of the APC remain unresolved, but I no longer believe the APC is interested in addressing them. The distance between me and the party is widening.”

He, therefore, urged opposition parties to unite and form a broad coalition to challenge the ruling party and protect democracy, emphasising that there are “internal mercenaries in the PDP, hired and motivated to destroy the party. The LP is also facing similar issues. Peter Obi himself told me, ‘I don’t know what’s happening in the party I contested with.’ There seems to be a deliberate project to destroy opposition parties,” El-Rufai declared.

Responding, the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga and the ruling party’s spokesman, Felix Morka, expectedly, lampooned them, describing them as aggrieved and desperate politicians.

Morka said “they cannot govern their parties but tout their ability to govern Africa’s most populous country. As discerning citizens, Nigerians know better than to be distracted by the false alarm and hollow allegations of desperate politicians whose only goal is to shore up their political relevance in the build-up to the 2027 general elections.”

But former APC National Vice Chairman, North-West, Mallam Salihu Lukman, took almost all of them to the cleaners, saying “If the truth must be told, the APC is, in fact, frightened by such initiatives, which is why their spokespersons at all levels made venomous public statements, almost as if we are in military governments.

“Many statements issued by both Mr. Bayo Onanuga and Mr. Felix Morka were sad reminders of the kind of statements by our late Comrade Uche Chukwumereji during the General Babangida era. Onanuga and Morka’s statements in recent times are almost like plagiarised statements of Comrade Chukwumereji who was the spokesperson of the government of Gen. Babangida,” he said.

Not sparing Atiku, Obi, Amaechi, and others, Lukman said “just imagine Atiku, or Obi, or Amaechi or Fayemi, Waziri Tambuwal or Nasir El-Rufai, or other opposition and displaced leaders with ambitions to contest becoming leaders of the new party. Imagine all these people decide that to lay a solid foundation for the emergence of a strong party, all of them or the majority of them will instead aspire to become part of the leaders of the new party.

“Across the North/South divide, many of the leading politicians, especially those with ambitions, both expressed and implied, use the issue of where the most likely candidate will come from as the primary consideration. The worrying reality is that many of these opposition and displaced politicians with ambitions are highly complicit and have little or no evidential credential of emerging as better political leaders.

“Based on laypersons’ legal knowledge, many of these politicians would be adjudged to being accessories, whether before or after, to our current political travesty. Given their records of service, they are most likely to be worse than former Presidents Jonathan, Buhari, and now President Tinubu.

“Based on their records, they exhibit intolerant dispositions and poor relationships on accounts of which they have mismanaged their transitions and are today hardly in control of political structures in their states. Some of them, on account of their influential roles in past administrations and failures, should be humble enough to take a backseat to build a strong coalition to strengthen Nigerian politics. Instead, it is more like a case of an unrepentant show of shame,” he said.

In the end, the communiqué also summed up the outcome of the conference: “opposition political parties must unite to form a strong, viable coalition that ensures checks and balances, promotes accountability, and fosters healthy political discourse to protect the integrity of the democratic process.

“Electoral offenders should be prosecuted in accordance with the law, as this would serve as a strong deterrent to others. Holding offenders accountable is essential for ensuring free, fair, and credible elections. Security agencies should be professional in their conduct, maintain their independence and neutrality on electoral matters, and focus on protecting citizens’ rights and upholding the rule of law.

“INEC should undertake a review of its internal processes to incorporate ward-level collation of results and ensure strict adherence to the electoral guidelines as mandated. Technology should be integrated into the electoral process to enhance accountability and transparency, aligning with global best practices and ensuring the credibility of the election outcomes. It should live up to its billing of strengthening political parties through its regulatory function to ensure that internal democracy is entrenched.”

On his part, the immediate past Vice President of Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia, in the paper he presented, noted that there are still tough hurdles to surmount before strengthening Nigeria’s democracy through the utopic thought of handing over to new sets of political leaders.

“For our democracy to succeed and remain useful for the citizenry, we require a new set of leaders. They are leaders who place national interests over and above individual parochial interests and leaders with political integrity.

“The generality of citizens must ensure that we consign greedy and in-ward looking politicians to the basket of irrelevance, and project selfless and generational thinkers to the front row of leadership and service. Citizens owe this duty to themselves, God, and country,” he added.