The Governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam, has said that any politician who defects from one party to the other because he lost elections is not only undemocratic but selfish and desperate, stressing that such acts were inimical to the growth of democracy in Nigeria.
Suswam made this known while fielding questions from newsmen at the Presidential Villa where Jonathan launched the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and the Find for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He spoke on the heels of the recent defection to the opposition APC of two prominent politicians in his state, ex-Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom, and former PDP Chairman, Barnabas Gemade.
“You know that Nigeria’s politics is rather funny. People who have no principles and ideologies, they just go into politics for what they can get. I find that very unfortunate. The Minister in question has been a great beneficiary of the PDP. And the most transparent primary was held in Benue state that is why no one is complaining about the primaries. Some people just want position and once they do not get it they swing. So, I find that very unfortunate. That is why we are having the problem we are having with politics in Nigeria.
“The other parties just wait for the other parties to conduct primaries so that when they have problem, they will just take them in. If we continue to practice politics in that manner, I do not think that we can grow. We will not get anywhere because there is no philosophy behind what we do. We are just operating like pendulum if it does not work this way, we will move this way that is not good.
“If they don’t get nomination in PDP, they will move to APC and if they do not get in APC, they will move to Labour Party etc, I think that instead of us growing our democracy, we cannot go anywhere with this kind of politics.
“They just want position not to serve but for selfish reasons. If you want to serve, if you do not get it today you will wait for the next time. This kind of politics come out of desperation for power. It is out of desperation that they move from one party to another.
“If you are not desperate, then what is it? You have been a Senator before later you became a Minister, you have been Auditor and you have been everything. Why will you defect from the party that has done so much for you. It is because they are desperate for power for selfish reasons not to serve the people. With this trend, I don’t think that politically we will grow in this country”, he said.
