AS THE 2027 RACES BEGIN IN EARNEST

MONDAY PHILIPS EKPE writes that considering the unrelenting misbehaviours of the political class, Nigerians must actively engage in the current electoral cycle

With the short supply of tangible, measurable achievements in the real sectors of the economy and the actual ingredients that determine the joy and happiness of the people, politicking has been on the nation’s menu since the start of this administration. But putting the whole blame on the government of President Bola Tinubu would be unfair. And the attempts by the president and his team to exonerate themselves from the frustrations moving ferociously across the country are both uncharitable and disingenuous.

Just like the billboards that surfaced in Abuja and elsewhere as far back as June/July 2023 seeking a second term for Tinubu, Nigerian people whose lives were viciously ruffled under the late President Muhammadu Buhari started early to wonder where their salvation would come from. The discerning among them knew early that Tinubu’s ‘bold’ twin decisions to remove oil subsidy by fiat and float the vulnerable naira would result in more agony and an uncertain future. By the way, no matter how well-intentioned reforms may be, if they’re not accompanied by matching optics and actions, they would crush the people’s spirit and demonstrate to them the folly of hoping for transformational outcomes.

So, the quest for those to provide answers to the country’s myriads of challenges appeared on the scene rather too soon, a condition that hasn’t been helped by the craze of political office holders to remain on their seats by all means. Seeking re-election is constitutional and it isn’t new, surely. Only that, this time, politicians have done so without visible proofs that they’ve invested commensurate energies or anything close in combating the nation’s snowballing insecurity, unemployment, inflation, decaying infrastructure and despondency of the citizenry. Political power has been substantially altered to mean the most lucrative avenue to amass wealth without qualms, bereft of the decency to cover up selfish and myopic motives. Impunity in wrong doing continues in the face of glaring institutional failures. All to the discomfiture of a helpless populace.

What exactly can the people do at this point other than waiting and wishing that things would be different this time? But, will they? There’s hardly any cause for optimism at the moment. Take for instance the flocking of erstwhile opposition state governors into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). To be clear, such occurrences aren’t new to our polity. However, none before now equals the quantum of the ‘earthquake’ that gives credence to the apprehension about Nigeria’s mutation to a one-party state. As things stand, only Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Osun and Oyo state governors haven’t joined the bandwagon. Even then, some of them have publicly declared their loyalty to Tinubu and his ambition to remain in office beyond next year.

Many of the cross-carpeting state chief executives never took those steps with their own people on their minds. This clearly self-centred gamble aimed at securing their return tickets or shielding them from law enforcement agencies when they finish their terms has only enhanced the possibility of civilian authoritarianism, a phenomenon alien to our democratic history even with all its shortcomings. Self-interest may not totally be divorced from any human activity but with fewer and fewer deliveries of governance benefits, these actions do portend a widening gulf between the long-suffering Nigerian masses and their leaders or, arguably better named, rulers.

For most of the governors, the popular pretext for jumping from their original ships into APC was the need to hook up with the government at the centre for enhanced access to federal might or an escape from their sinking former bases. Yes, while their ex parties eventually descended into protracted crises that are yet to be resolved, the fabled dividends waiting to be extracted from Abuja simply haven’t shown up. Instead, those enmeshed in, say, security issues have degenerated further. The governors’ decampments don’t look like public-spirited sagacity.

The omnibus that APC has become ought not to be concerning if the opposition parties were to be on their own feet. The conspiracy theory that drives discussions about the troubles of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and others is rooted in allegations of presidency’s meddling and outright sabotage through subterfuge and abuse of legal processes. Those accusations could well be true by half. And what happens to the other half? The answers are now unfolding.

Opposition politicians who love to play the victim are engaged in misconducts of their own. The final result of the ADC presidential primary conducted on Monday May 25 hasn’t been announced over 48 hours after, having been reportedly pronounced inconclusive. The two men who ran against the frontrunner, Wazirin Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar – Mr Chibuike Amaechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatudeen – have since rejected and distanced themselves from the outcomes of the exercise. If this debacle is not resolved fast, it will be tragic indeed. To think that just before Mr Peter Obi and Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso left the ADC coalition for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the former was seen by many political watchers as having the capacity to truly challenge the party in power.

Sadly, these foibles are only one part of the troubling atmosphere preceding next year’s general polls. The umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has done little to correct its widespread image as a pal of Tinubu and his party, an assumption that may actually not subsist under scrutiny. After the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Senator David Mark-led faction of ADC in the status quo ante bellum case that had put pressure on its integrity, INEC complied promptly. And few days ago, it countered the bogus claims made by the APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, about his party’s membership strength. Perhaps, Nigerians who have been constantly drawn into pessimism and cynicism against their wish can hold onto this as a sign of hope.

Equally worrying is the conduct of the primaries generally. One hallmark of APC’s outings was the deliberate distortion of figures as the voters were counted. Moving from number one to 10 to 200 and then 1000 was an unfortunate corruption of the glorious Option A4 mode of voting which produced the famous June 12, 1993 presidential election. That such was also registered during ADC’s turn that followed signalled a frightening degeneracy and national shame.

These missteps call for vigilance. Average citizens and ordinary party members who are sometimes complicit should step out and own the processes. They have worshipped power wielders and peddlers enough. This season hasn’t started well but too much is at stake to squander through collusion, apathy, docility and a fatalistic disposition.       

Dr Ekpe is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

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