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By Ehichioya Ezomon
Amid the tension generated by the sacking of Governor Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a comic relief is playing out at the House of Assembly in Owerri, the capital city of Imo State.
Within days of the collapse of the Ihedioha government, two-thirds of members of the PDP emptied themselves into the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) installed on January 14, 2020.
By Tuesday, January 28, 16 members of the PDP had switched camps on the floor of the assembly, in utter disrespect for the extant laws regulating defections in political parties.
A proviso to Section 109(1)(g) of the amended 1999 Constitution allows for defection of a member of the House of Assembly only on two grounds: a division in, or a merger of the sponsoring party or a faction of it with another party or parties.
Absent these conditions, a defecting lawmaker’s seat can be declared vacant by the Assembly Speaker, who then directs the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election into the position.
But is the Imo Speaker capable of or willing to undertake such a venture when he leads the exodus from the PDP? This could be why the party side-stepped the Speaker, and asked the INEC to conduct new poll into the seats.
The spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, told the press on January 30 in Abuja that: “The PDP is left with no other option than to request INEC to immediately commence the processes for the conduct of fresh elections into the respective state constituencies where the legislators have vacated their seats in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.”
Alleging that the defectors were “easily bought by personal pecuniary and political interests,” Mr Ologbondiyan said the lawmakers “have indeed shown absolute lack of character, failure of leadership capacity in moments of challenges and absence of faith to stand with the people in their most trying moment.”
It seems the decamps were praying, and waiting for Governor Ihedioha and the PDP to lose the appeals filed by Senator Hope Uzodinma and the APC at the Supreme Court of a seven-member panel of Justices, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad.
With Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunmbo Kekere-Ekun reading the lead judgement, the court voided the election of Mr Ihedioha, and declared Senator Uzodinma as the Governor of Imo State.
The court ruling generated instant controversy, leading to aggrieved members of the PDP, led by its Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, staging daily protests, and calling for the reversal of the verdict, and return of Ihedioha as governor.
Possibly unknown to the PDP apparatchiks, including the vice presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, Mr Peter Obi, the lawmakers had accepted the court verdict, and decided to decamp to the newly-installed APC government in the state.
The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Chiji Collins, holding on to his position, led the way, switching from the PDP to the APC. A few days later, seven PDP members crossed the carpet.
The ranks of the defectors swelled by eight members on Tuesday, January 28, bringing the number of members of the APC to 18 in the 24-member Assembly.
Worsening the irony is Eddy Obinna, the lawmaker representing Mr Ihedioha’s Aboh Mbaise State constituency, who couldn’t see out Ihedioha’s appeal praying the Supreme Court to reverse itself.
Reports indicate that the remaining six PDP lawmakers were on the verge of departing the party, “as some of them couldn’t conclude consultations within the week,” but that by last Wednesday, “more lawmakers would have made up their minds.”
This corps of legislators is telling Nigerians that when it suits their interest, there’s no scruple moving from one party to the other in a twinkle of an eye. Yes, their interest! That’s what dictates this melodrama in the absence, and observance of party ideology.
Forget the platitudes mouthed by the defectors: That they wanted to be on the same page with the executive arm of the Imo Government, so together, they could move the state forward.
As a lawmaker said: “They (defectors) joined APC so the House of Assembly and the executive arm of the government should be on one page to make laws for Imo people.
“Remember, when Emeka Ihedioha was governor, all of us dumped the party that elected us, and joined the PDP to move the state forward. So, it is not a new thing to be a member of APC. All we are doing is for the betterment of Imo people.”
Baloney! Must you all belong to the same political party “to move Imo State forward” in terms of development and delivering the “dividend of democracy” to the people?
Without a viable opposition, the government would sooner turn into a one-party state, and ultimately an autocracy that brooks no challenge to its authority, no matter the effect of its policies and programmes on the people.
Because, those who could hold the government to account have become enablers in the guise of being “on the same page” with the executive. Is that the essence of democracy?
The “tragedy” at the Imo House of Assembly is the dilemma of the Nigerian political system of “winner-takes-all” that leaves members of the opposition stranded in influencing government’s programmes as they affect their constituents.
If a political party can’t serve the interest of its members due to lack of actual representation in government, what option is left for its members but to decamp to the ruling party!
Yet, do the constituents complain about their representatives offering their mandate to other platforms? No, because the lawmakers either consult with them, or simply impose their will, as they do often to get elected.
So, head or tail, the Imo lawmakers are representing their people, who, owing to the crumbs, code-named “dividend of democracy” they receive, let them get away with murder in their behalf.
LAST LINE: An appeal for health safety
Mr Bolawole(+2348023842418): “I observe, with dismay, how food vendors, especially akara (bean cake) and bounce (buns) (bread rolls) sellers, expose these items to dust and flies at bus stops around Lagos metropolis. I wish you use your column to alert the relevant agencies on this wicked act.”
I appeal to the Lagos State health and environmental authorities, to take note, and help monitor these spots, to prevent contamination of these foods by air-borne diseases we can ill-afford amid growing concerns over the rapid spread of the deadly Lassa fever to many states in the country.
* Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
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