Nigeria’s democracy is 20 years old since the country returned to a democratic government on May 29, 1999. Since then, there are different clogs in the wheel of democratic dispensation in Nigeria which affect the country from having a ‘true’ multiparty democracy. One of these is party defection or cross carpeting.

If we take a closer look into the Nigeria political history, we will realise that Extant literature reveals that the issue of party defection, where politicians crossing from one political party to the other, is rampant in Nigeria and it cuts across all levels of government from federal to local. The most recent and absurd occurrence is that of the Edo state political system.

The Tenure of the Governor of Edo State will expire on the 11th day of November 2020 and by virtue of the provisions of Section 178 (2) of the Constitution, and Section 25 (8) of the Electoral Act, Election into the office of a State Governor shall hold not earlier than One Hundred and Fifty (150) days and not later than thirty (30) days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office. In view of that, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced 19th September 2020 as the official date for the Edo state election.

This election once again presents the Edo people with another opportunity to elect a leader that will provide them with the dividends of democracy and good governance they have been clamouring for. For me, it is also the best time to point to the good people of Edo state that they have more than APC and PDP to select from in the forthcoming election.

According to the communique released by INEC, they have registered and confirmed only 14 Political Parties (14 Governorship Candidates for the forthcoming election). Which means the people have 14 candidates to select from of which two are females. I needed to point that out as we have indirectly accepted that Nigeria is running a two-party system by practice as the “competition” has always been between the APC and the PDP.

A political party is meant to be driven by principle and ideologies, these ideologies apparently are what attract candidates to join the party. In other words, it is safe to say, the ideology of a political party is almost the same as the members of that party. But what democracy depicts in Nigeria continues to manifest clearly around individual’s quests for recognition or self-preservation rather than the greater purpose of service to the people and nation as enshrined in the letters of the definitions of democracy.

In the Edo state 2016 election, Governor Godwin Obaseki contested and won his election under the APC. In his campaigns, his Godfather and mentor were able to present to us why PDP is not a worthy party to give power and how they lack ideologies to govern a state, here we are in 2020, the same man is contesting under the PDP, a party that is of no good.

Pastor Ize-Iyamu Osagie on the hand, who has been a major rival to the APC, contested under the PDP in the 2016 election in Edo state but in this 2020 he is now in APC, a party he agreed are occupied by corrupt and incompetent people. The question really is what changed over the years in the life of both Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu?

I won’t ever forget the role of Adams Oshiomole in all this, how he was able to remind the good people of Edo state about the past mismanagement of Edo State by Pastor Ize-Iyamu Osagie and his then party, the PDP. Adams Oshiomole, who was then the outgoing governor, minced no word in tagging Pastor Ize-Iyamu Osagie as a thief and an incompetent bigot who cannot be trusted with the treasury of Edo state and it was the reason he did not nominate him for an appointment when he was still a Governor under the APC in the State. I ask again, what changed now?

To be fair, it is not just an APC or the PDP thing. Because in that same 2016, Amos Areloegbe contested under the Labour Party (LP) but he is now contesting under the All People’s Party (APP). In the same vein, Akhalamhe Amiemenoghena contested in 2016 under the People for Democratic. Change (PDC) and in 2020 he is in the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). Not forgetting Agol Ebun who was in the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN) in 2016 but has now crossed carpet to New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in 2020.

This systemic behaviourism by so-called and self-styled politicians in Nigeria has reduced the quality of opposition and clear proof that politicians and their political parties have no principles or ideologies. All this supports Winston Churchhill claim that “Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.”

Victor Ejechi is the Media and Communications Lead at StatiSense Consult