One notable feature of Nigerian politics is the frequency at which political actors switch allegiance from one political group to another. The considerable ease with which an erstwhile political opponent who has been a rabid critic of a political party does an about-turn to embrace the same party is as interesting as it is entertaining. It has underscored and conclusively established the fact that politics in Nigeria is really not about service but personal aggrandisement. The passing of years in Nigeria’s peculiar democracy has shown very clearly that the objective of Nigerian politicians is power and position and the privileges that come with them. Their nocturnal meetings are not centred on the people and how to improve their living conditions. The thrust is on how to capture or retain political power and not what to do with it to improve the lot of the people. The manner in which defected members from other parties are celebrated provide sufficient evidence that the various parties are different sides of the same coin.
The recent defection of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a front-line member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who flew the party’s flag in the 2011 presidential election, to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), amply illustrates the mindset of the Nigerian politician. Ribadu’s statement that there is no difference between the PDP and the APC in terms of the character of members of the two parties is incontestable. What is questionable is his claim to a patriotic zeal to serve the people. It is not a hidden fact that Ribadu’s decision to team up with the PDP is in furtherance of his bid for the governorship of Adamawa State.
The yet-to-be-officially-announced second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan has for long been a sticking point in the PDP. The schism that resulted from the issue led to the exit of five of the party’s governors who went to team up with the opposition APC. Seeing the arrival of five state governors in their midst as a great boost to their electoral fortunes in the next general election, the leadership of the APC handed over the control of the party’s structures in their respective states to the new entrants. The existing members of the APC, who have been managing the affairs of the party in these states, took exception to such a decision. In a tit-for-tat response, they declared for the ruling party that they had consistently presented to Nigerians as the source of the country’s woes.
Former military administrator of Lagos State, who had been a prominent leader of the APC in Adamawa State, Buba Marwa, has not only joined the PDP, he is also one of the top contenders for the governorship ticket of the party. The man who contested election as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Kwara State in 2011, Mohammed Dele Belgore, is now a vocal defender of the PDP. The former governor of Kano State who has been the pillar of strength for the APC in the state is now a minister in the PDP-controlled Federal Government and a rallying point for the party. He has undergone a dramatic transmutation from an implacable foe to an invaluable political asset. The situation in Sokoto State is an exact replication of what obtains in Kano. The only difference is that former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa has not been rewarded with a ministerial portfolio like his opposite number in Kano State.
Members of the PDP-controlled house of assembly, who sacked Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa State, were his allies and friends in politics before he defected to the APC. The alleged offences for which he was removed from office were committed while he was a member of the PDP. He was not removed for failing to adhere to the ideological principles of his former party. It is obvious that he has been punished for biting the fingers that fed him. The PDP simply believes that it will be politically unwise to fail to neutralise him before the next election.
When the PDP environment became inhospitable for former Vice-President Atiku Abubkar, he found new political allies with whom he co-founded the Action Congress (AC) on the platform of which he again strove to realise his presidential ambition in 2007. Before the 2011 election, however, the former vice-president had found it expedient to retrace his steps and reunite with the PDP only to take his exit again and go into the warm embrace of the APC largely made up of members of the defunct AC he had earlier abandoned. Many governors and legislators have similarly migrated from one party to another in the quest for the realisation of their individual political objectives. It cannot be a moot point that politics in Nigeria has nothing to do with principle. It is a matter of conscious calculation and search for a comfort zone through which the benefits that come with political power can be enjoyed.
