Defections threat to political stability

When politics is no longer a mission but a profession, politicians become more self-serving than public servants”

– Emmanuel Macron, the President of France.

Nigeria has had a history of defection of party members from one political party to another right from the colonial era. In 1951, the first celebrated cross-carpeting episode occurred in Nigeria; which consequently robbed the leader of the National Convention of Nigerians and Cameroons, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, of the chance to lead the government’s business of Western Nigeria. This means that the phenomenon has been with us for a whopping 70 years.

Party defections can have significant effects on democracy, particularly in countries like Nigeria. Research has shown that frequent party switches can hinder democratic growth by eroding public trust in political institutions and undermining the credibility of the political system.

The key consequences of party defections include: Erosion of public trust: When elected officials switch parties, it can create a perception that they are more interested in personal gain than serving the public interest. Undermining democratic institutions: Frequent party defections can weaken democratic institutions, such as parliaments and political parties, and create instability in the political system. Negative impact on governance*: Party defections can also lead to a decline in the quality of governance, as elected officials may prioritise their personal interests over the needs of their constituents.

Recall that in November 2013, five serving governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at that time defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside Atiku. They were Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state was formerly of the PDP, but he defected to the APC ahead of the 2015 general elections and was later to return to the PDP before the 2019 general elections.

Funny enough, these politicians usually antagonise opposition parties and call them unprintable names only to go and seek solace under the same much abused and maligned political parties. This lends credence to the axiom that in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies only permanent interest. Nigeria runs a “food is ready” politics, the kind which a don at the University of Ibadan, Prof. OBC Nwolise, referred to as “Amala Politics”. 

Thus, like bees are attracted to flowers, politicians are attracted to where their interests will be best served. This is why some analysts often say Nigeria’s political parties lack ideology. That is not true. All registered political parties in Nigeria have ideologies they espoused in their constitution; however, this ideology is observed in the breach.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) recognises the right of politicians to change platforms but this has to be done within the ambit of the law. The constitution is silent on defection by those holding executive positions such as the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors as well as chairmen of councils and their deputies from the political parties which sponsored their elections.

However, defection by legislators is prohibited by the constitution. For the sake of emphasis, the community reading of Section 68 subsection 1(g) and Section 109 subsection 1(g) of the constitution are of the effect that once a member of a political party elected on the platform of a political party defects, the member is bound to vacate his seat because the seat belongs to the party that brought him to the parliament.

However, there are a couple of provisos being exploited by desperate politicians to fulfil their nomadic ambition. It states that “Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”. 

The issue is, the constitution is silent on whether the factionalisation of the party has to be at the ward, local government, state or national level. Oftentimes, these politicians who want to defect engineer crisis within their parties.

Truth be told, defection or cross-carpeting does not augur well for the deepening of democracy in Nigeria. Many political parties can lose their registration due to such defections of the elected members in their party’s platforms. 

Recall that the basis upon which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can deregister a party according to Section 225(a) of the constitution is if the party does not score a threshold of 25 per cent of votes in elections into executive positions or if such a party does not have elected members in parliamentary elections.

Right now, given the current amendment of the constitution, it is imperative to state that irrespective of the reason a member of a party may want to defect, those who were elected into either the executive or legislature must vacate their seats and allow INEC to conduct bye-election to fill those vacant seats.

The reason being that no politician runs for election as an independent candidate in Nigeria. In the locus classicus of Rotimi Amaechi v. Celestine Omahi of Rivers state and Yahaya Bello v. Idris Wada of Kogi state the Supreme Court declared that the electoral mandate belonged to the party and not the candidate. This judgement, if applied, will stem the tide of the defections by elected representatives.

Unfortunately, since the beneficiaries of this rot in the political system are the ones being relied on to make this amendment, it is very unlikely that the lawmakers will want to shoot themselves in the foot by taking this drastic step. It then means that Nigerians may have to live with the shenanigans of our political gladiators