Opposition parties in the country are worried over the increasing defection of elected public office holders, especially the federal and state legislators, from the parties under which platform they were elected to others.

They are also lamenting the failure of the National Assembly to amend the provisions of the constitution to make it possible for politicians, particularly lawmakers, to lose their seats if they decamp to other parties.

Sections 68 (g) and 109 (d) of the 1999 Constitution says a member of the Senate or of House of Representatives or State House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member 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: Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of 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.” During the just-concluded constitution amendment, the National Assembly had proposed to alter the sections to make it possible for lawmakers to defect without losing their seat. The proposal, however, did not get the support of two-third majority of the 36 State Houses of Assembly. Following the rejection, the sections were left intact.

But officials of opposition parties who spoke with NEXT said the rate at which elected office holders are defecting to other parties, particularly the PDP could turn the country into a one-party state.

They also said that the failure to change the law, by the federal and state legislators, during the recently concluded amendment of the 1999 Constitution, has not helped to deepen the nation’s democracy.

Sabo Muhammad, the National Director of Publicity of the All Nigerian Peoples Party, said his party is sad that the amendment of the clauses did not sail through during the exercise.

“You know that is what we have been canvassing. The ANPP under the leadership of Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, and Saidu Umar, from the onset has been in the forefront of the campaign to curtail the cross carpeting of politicians because ANPP has suffered much from this unfortunate thing. And so, you don’t expect us to be happy that the amendment was not carried through,” Mr Muhammad said.

Money-bag politics

The national chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Lisu Akerele described the failure of the amendment as unfortunate. According to him, the defection of members of a political party to others is promoting money-bag politics, and it would not give room for ideology-based political parties to thrive.

“The question of jumping from one party to another has to do with money politics and that is the problem we are having,” Mr Akerele said.

“It is not good for the development of party politics. You have to stand for something and not for naira, not for money all the time. It is either you are on the left or on the right. Because of the way people are looking for money you find that they lack principle and keep moving from one place to another. Is that how to play politics. How do we grow?” The PPA boss said if sanity is to be restored to the nation’s polity, the defection of politicians must be curtailed. He disclosed that his leadership has been trying to build a serious party to which everyone will not only be proud to belong but also find it difficult to decamp to other parties.

Ifeanacho Oguejiofor, the spokesman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and his counterpart in the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Osita Okechukwu also regretted the increasing rate at which politicians are decamping, adding that it is weakening the opposition parties.

But the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Rufai Alkali, whose party has been a major beneficiary of defections in the recent past, said the failure to make the amendment was the wish of Nigerians, adding that the party would abide by whatever law is made by the legislature.

“If that is the decision of the legislature, we will go along with it,” Mr Alkali told NEXT. “It is the wish of Nigerians that the National Assembly is trying to reflect. I think they are handling the amendment well as representatives of the people. We have confidence in them.”

Jumped ship

Since 2007 when the present National Assembly was inaugurated, no fewer than 13 senators and 15 members of the House of Representatives have decamped to other parties. Among the senators who have dumped their parties are Patrick Osakwe (Delta), Uche Chukwumerije (Abia), Patricia Akwashiki (Nasarawa), Satty Gogwin (Plateau), Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi) and Sahabi Yau (Zamfara). Others are Hassan Gusau (Zamfara), Alphonsus Igbeke (Anambra) and Otaru Ohize (Kogi).

In the House of Representatives, those that moved are Uche Ekwunife (Anambra),

Ahmed Wase (Plateau), Abubakar Bunu (Zamfara), Mohammed Takoki (Zamfara),

Suleiman Abdul (Kogi), Salihu Abdulkareem (Kogi) and Bello Moriki (Zamfara).

Idris Keta (Zamfara), Zubairu Dahir (Zamfara), Kareem Abisodun (Oyo), Patrick Obahiagbon (Edo), Samson Osagie (Edo) and Ibrahim Misau (Bauchi) also decamped to other parties. All of them still maintain their seats in the parliament.

Hundreds of state legislatures as well as four state governors have also defected and are still in office.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5604606-147/opposition_parties_worry_over_incessant_defection.csp

who want to lose?

this happens when parties are built on personal sentiments and not ideological lines.

could you ever imagine senator ted kennedy as a republican?
opposition parties in nigeria should actually develop an ideology rather than adding big words to their names.

bawomolo:

this happens when parties are built on personal sentiments and not ideological lines.

could you ever imagine senator ted kennedy as a republican?
opposition parties in nigeria should actually develop an ideology rather than adding big words to their names.

How do you develop ideologies when parties are formed and joined for personal interests? with the sort of allowances they allocate themselves, no ideology will ever work as they are there for their own personal benefit. If only Governmental offices can be made less attractive, those who really know they want to serve will form and join parties based on cutout ideologies and will face it when elected.

they just look for the gravvy train

and the foolish opposition parties are the jokers that accept these "defectees" and after a while, they are dumped and the politicians still return to their source of income (PDP) ,

they are now here complaining about defectees

hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Defection should be allowed only on the condition that the individual gives up his elected position and contests again under the new banner. The voting public must decide which party AND candidate to vote for instead of these people who decamp like the wind to wherever they can steal more money.