Defections may turn out to be a blessing for Nigeria —Sani

GENERAL Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, speaks with KUNLE ODEREMI on the recent gale of defections in the polity, concluding that lack of ideology in the parties was responsible for the development.

THE gale of defections in the political parties lately has upped the ante and tension in the political circle, as major actors attempt to place themselves in vantage apposition ahead the 2019 elections. When is the nation likely to have an end to this kind of scenario at the threshold of general election?

The factors that inspire and motivate defections and decamping are absence of ideology and programs in our political parties. As a result, our politics lacks convictions and is propelled more by which political party has greater chance to win elections than which political party has greater vision, policies and programs needed to address national challenges.

Please consider how PDP was formed; all politicians of different stripes and tendencies came together for the express purpose of edging out the military from power. How to address the national challenges was not their concern. As a result, when the PDP won the elections, there was no unity of purpose in the party, hence the disagreements. Recall that President [Olusegun] Obasanjo had to tell the PDP that time that all that held the party together was the fact that it was in power.

In the same way, different political ideologies and persuasions came together and formed APC for the purpose of driving out the PDP from power. And even though the party promised to fight insecurity and corruption in order to pave the way for the economy to be revamped and diversified away from oil wealth, which is not result of hard work, there has been no unity of purpose among seminal party members. Consequently, the party has been at war with itself and there has been semblance of a divided presidency. That is to say many of the seminal figures in the party have not been committed to the manifesto of the party. That has naturally limited the ability of the party to deliver on its campaign promises. No effort has been made to find an appropriate balance between separation and imperative multiparty politics.

In a nutshell, I would say the gale of defections of politicians when elections draw near is because our politicians are more concerned about which political party can win the elections, and not on which political party has what it takes to address national challenges in the socioeconomic milieu.

But what do you think the defections portend for the polity?

Even though the defections are not good attributes of a developed multiparty democracy, this development may turn out to be a blessing after all, in the sense that water is finding its levels so that the politicians of progressives should be in one political party and the conservatives would be in another. That way, there would be a viable opposition as alternative platform, since democracy without viable opposition is a sham.

Opinions varied on the general conduct of Nigerian politicians; while some observers claim the spirit of desperation is largely responsible for the constant friction and threats to stability in the polity, others say it is more about the display of rascality by Executive of the Legislature on matters. So, the opinion is that the current dingdong in the political arena could have been avoided if there was a synergy between the Executive and the Legislature at the centre since 2015. To what extent do you think this is true and why?

The synergy you talk about could work only if members of the APC were on the same page and key into the manifesto and all have been committed to making the manifesto of the party come unto its own. But that has not been the case from the outset precisely, because the rain makers in the party have different aspirations and motivations for being in the party, hence the topsy-turvy which have resulted in the defections under reference.

Then, what are the immediate and long term implications of the ongoing alignment and realignment of forces in the main political parties and how do you mean?

Democracy is a process and it improves with time. As I have repeated every time I have the chance to air my view on the subject matter, there is national consensus on problems afflicting the nation. But most often, there is no such consensus on methods of solution. And that is why multiparty democracy allows each political party to represent distinct method of solution by way of its manifesto which it uses and canvasses for electoral mandate needed for execution. But in Nigeria, the political parties do not represent distinct methods of solution of national problems to which members are committed. There is more politics of identity at the expense of issues. Our political parties do not seem to play their roles of politics of issues that can make our democracy take root and grow.

Take the issue of restructuring of the country for example, if our political parties were playing their roles, those political parties that want the country restructured would have it in their manifestos and use it to campaign. The ensuing debates among the political parties would lead to enlightenment of voters and inform voting. But what do we see today; some unelected group would meet and call for restructuring of the country as if they are political parties. That is not the working of a multi-party democracy. Let the political parties take their place in the order of things and inspire true democracy that is premised on triple foundation of justice, liberty and common decency. I wish to emphasise that those who seek to redefine the three elements of democracy can as well reinvent the wheel or redefine the truth.

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The battle for the presidency is clearly between incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and other notable figures also from the Northern part of the country. What is your take?

My take is that politics of issues should supplant those of identity, considering the notable northerners as presidential candidates are most likely to be Hausa/Fulani Muslims. So, ethnicity and religion will have no place.

What does it portend for the North, especially against the raging issues of religion, ethnicity, insecurity, demands for restructuring of the country and self-assertion by leaders from the North-Central or the Middle Belt region? How and why do you believe so?

As I have said above, if the candidates are both Hausa/Fulanis Muslims, then politics of identity as symbolised by religion and ethnicity would confer no advantage on any of the candidates. That is to say religion and ethnicity would have no place in the campaigns, only issues would matter. How to prevent cleavages of the nation along ethnic and religious lines would be issues for campaigns. Also, how to overcome insecurity by geopolitical zone will be the concern of the major political parties and their candidates.

Those political parties that want to restructure the country must tell the voters how they want the country restructured and the benefits of restructuring. Those who are not disposed to restructuring of the country will also let the voters know their positions for the purpose of informed voting. As to the concern of the Middle Belt, I still do not understand what the agitators want. The definition is not clear. Is it northern minorities irrespective of religion, Northern minorities who are Christians or Nigerians who are in the middle of the country? When J. Tarka floated the concept of Middle Belt, it was for creation of Middle Belt Region reminiscent of Mid-West Region. But now that states have been created and minorities are ruling themselves, I see no wisdom in the agitations of the Middle Belt that are rooted in what no longer exists.

I am aware some people in the South-East and South-South have been trying to put a crimp between the Christian northern minorities and the majority Hausa/Fulanis in the North by depicting the people of the Middle Belt as afflicted with slave mentality where the North is the lair of the Hausa/Fulani who are Lords of the Manor. But we should note the import of PDP, which hub is in the South-East and South-South zoning its presidential ticket in 2019 to the North, and not to the Middle Belt.

Also, let the people of the Middle Belt know that Senator David Mark was made Senate President with the support of the North despite the fact that he is Idoma, without political traction in Benue State, going by politics of identity. The same with Honourable Yakubu Dogara from Bauchi State, who became speaker of the House of Representatives and both Dr David Lawal and Dr Boss Mustapha from Adamawa State who became SGF. These was affirmative action that comes with minority right or content of character, one might say. But these underscore the fact that discrimination on religion and ethnicity is going down in the North in favour of relative pluralism.

With names like Atiku abubakar, Senator Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal and others obviously pitched against Buhari for the 2019 Presidency, the North appears in dilemma over who to fully support for the presidency next February. How can the North wriggle out of the problem?

This is not the first time. Recall that Alhaji Shehu Shagari contested against Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri and Mallam Aminu Kano from the North and against Awo and Zik from the South during the second republic. I have told you that it is a healthy development for our democracy because it will make politics of issues prevail over politics of religion and ethnicity. The campaigns will enlighten voters to make informed choice during voting. All we pray for is that the political parties and the candidates should mobilise and enlighten the people who will be expected to make judicious use of their democratic rights and ensure that votes count so that the ensuing leaders would be accountable. Nigerians should not forget that bad leaders are often voted by those who do not come out to vote.