BY BRIGHT JACOB
Following the determination of the various Senate and House of Representatives election disputes across Nigeria by the Appeal Courts, analysts fear that the majority of opposition politicians in the National Assembly may have been given fresh impetus to join “bigger” political parties.
This posture, though unwelcomed, is despite the fact that swapping political parties with the aim of changing party allegiance undermines democracy.
And being the political norm in Nigeria, cross carpeting is frowned upon by the 1999 Constitution which list copiously in Section 68 subsection 1 how a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives can vacate his or her seat in the House.
Specifically, in Section 68(1g), which deals with cross carpeting, the Constitution says a member of the legislature could lose his or her seat if, being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.
However, there is a proviso that a lawmaker is exempt from the law, provided that the person’s membership of the party he or she moved to is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.
The lacuna in this section of the law is, more often than not, what Senators and House of Representatives members most times exploit for their selfish gain.
Presently, even though a handful of lawmakers in the opposition camp have either been sacked or rerun elections ordered in their constituencies, a vast majority of them had their election validated by the appellate court and this, according to analysts, has given the “lucky” politicians a sense of closure, and also become a morale booster for their next “big leap”.
Stakeholders, on their part, note that with all the divisions, an earlier mentioned proviso highlighted in the Constitution, in many state branches of opposition parties, lawmakers in their fold have been presented with ready-made answers for justifying their actions even though the choices they make will stir up a hornet’s nest in the polity.
A political commentator, Ben Njoku, who spoke to The Point said, “It is an open secret that many of the lawmakers in the opposition who are nursing plans to dump their respective parties had exercised patience pending the time their cases would be determined by the Court of Appeal.
“If we want to improve politics and deepen our democratic system, there will be a need to proscribe cross carpeting. The challenges they (candidates) face cross carpeting make them undermine the fundamental process of democracy”
“Of course, the courts that kept their plans on leash are done and dusted with these cases, so they are now free to manoeuvre as much as they can.
“In addition, now that most of them have been cleared to retain their seats, you will see a great deal of cross carpeting in 2024.
“Let us not also forget that while their cases lasted in the courts, they were uncertain about their political future and knew that any move to leave their parties would be counterproductive and insane, hence their inactivity.
“But no thanks to the internal wrangling that causes divisions in many of the opposition parties today, this is the excuse politicians use to defend themselves when they jump ship.
“And I also understand that the Constitution says that “mergers” and “factions” can be excused for defection, but division is usually their trump card.”
Njoku also alleged that lawmakers had started working to manufacture “division” in their parties and that the past leaderships in the National Assembly have not helped matters.
“Some of the lawmakers have started working discretely to manufacture ‘division’ in their parties even where there are none. They will likely sponsor any upheaval that will turn things in their favour.
“Unfortunately, in the 9th National Assembly during Femi Gbajabiamila’s tenure as Speaker, when opposition politicians defect and minority leaders complain about it, they would be shut down and rebuffed by the Speaker, and it shouldn’t be so,” he said.
New power equation
The new power equation, especially in the minority political parties, has also been listed by analysts as a warning sign to opposition politicians.
Penultimate week, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) and Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) as the new Senate Minority Leader and Whip, respectively, after the courts had sacked Simon Mwadkwon (PDP, Plateau North) as the Minority Leader, and ordered a rerun election, and out rightly removed Darlington Nwokocha (LP, Abia Central) as the Minority Whip.
And though Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra North) had tongue-lashed Akpabio in the Senate chamber, accusing him of picking minority leaders for opposition parties, a Port Harcourt-based social commentator, Sylvester Enefeli, said Nwoye “should have known what is happening” and is more circumspect.
“About that hot exchange (between Akpabio and Nwokocha), I think the APC and PDP are trying to douse the influence of the LP in the Senate. That is how they start and before you know it, they would have crippled the party.
“Since a LP Senator was originally among the principal minority officers, I don’t see any reason why any other Senator from the party shouldn’t have replaced Nwokocha.
“As for Nwoye who exchanged words with Akpabio, he should have known what was happening and be more circumspect, and also realise that something fishy was going on.
“They are sowing discord and discontentment among LP Senators and, by extension, to the other minority parties and this can lead to exodus from the LP to either the APC or PDP,” he concluded.
Perhaps, hoping to draw attention to the menace of cross carpeting, a Professor of Political Science and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, had stated in Abuja last week at the Citizens’ Town hall on Electoral Reforms, organised by Yiaga Africa and the European Union, that it was time Nigeria totally expunged cross carpeting from the Electoral Act 2022.
Jega said, “If we want to improve politics and deepen our democratic system, there will be a need to proscribe cross carpeting. The challenges they (candidates) face cross carpeting make them undermine the fundamental process of democracy.
“We have seen this trend where even now executive governors elected under one party, move without consultation to another party.
“We need to ensure that in the new electoral act moving forward, we need to proscribe that aspect because it is destroying the essence of democracy.”
One-party state question
Some opposition political parties had their victories overturned by the Appeal Courts and this has continued to evoke a one-party state sentiment by some Nigerians who believe the courts are favourably disposed to the APC.
The ruling party has, however, denied this allegation.
A chieftain of the PDP, Anselm Ojezua, asked whether the threat of a one-party state was real and how it could impact politicians in the PDP said there was no permanent friend or permanent enemy in politics.
He also said that “no condition is permanent.”
“Well, you never know what can happen. But the very first thing you have to understand is that there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy (in politics).
“And my experience in the Nigerian realm is that circumstances can play a role in moving people from one party to the other.
“But one thing I know for sure is that no condition is permanent.
“There was a time the PDP was in the position of the APC, when they said they would rule Nigeria for 60 years.
“Today, it is the APC. Who knows tomorrow?” Ojezua queried.