L
LequteMan
Guest
The shame of the Nigerian nation is fast exposing itself, and in many ways too. The brouhaha of the Legislative and Executive arms has been anything but enterprising. This is not forgetting that the judiciary is part of the unfavourable clamour to make the country a jungle inhabited by beasts.
In recent times, more issues have come to the fore to prove that the Nigeria nation is nothing but a rudderless ship, a plane on auto-pilot or basically a directionless school boy. The most prominent now is the mass defection of members of other political parties including or especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is supposedly the ‘opposition party’, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The latest in this mad rush of defections is the former Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who claimed ‘emotions’ (whatever that means) prompted her action.
These mass defections, in this crisis prone period, according to a political analyst, is a testimony to the fact that the people have lost value in opposing government’s draconian policies, saying it also stamps one party system of government on the country.
“That everybody is running to the APC testifies to the fact that the country has lost it. It shows that no one wants to oppose wrong policies any more so long it creates job and bring unmerited revenue his way,” he said.
While reacting angrily to Senator Ita-Giwa’s defection, he said: “This is a classic example of shamelessness, in addition to the previous high profile defections that have taken place in the last couple of weeks.”
Earlier, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, had come down hard on some politicians, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC, saying their defection was motivated by hunger and business interest.
Ekweremadu spoke at the expanded caucus meeting of the party in Abuja on a day that the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Ayodele Fayose, said he will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of the APC government by exposing its failures – more like a one man opposition force.
Among those present at the meeting were members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party, former and serving governors, former and serving members of the National Assembly, among other senior party chieftains.
It was probably the largest gathering of party stakeholders under one roof since the crisis that engulfed the party in 2016. It is also worthy of note that most people who had defected to the APC today were also in the meeting such as former Enugu and Ebonyi states’ governors.
At the meeting, the stakeholders had encouraged themselves not to be distracted by the leadership challenge at the national level, pledging allegiance to the party and hoping things would turn out right, which unfortunately have not today as the bickering between Ali Modo Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi continues unabated.
Ekweremadu was actually reacting to the recent defection of some PDP senators, and said the action of the three lawmakers had not in any way affected the numerical strength of the party.
But today, those three senators have taken a whole lot more in their wake.
As wickedly anticipated, six out of the eight PDP lawmakers at the Lagos State House of Assembly officially announced their defection to the ruling APC. The defection was announced through a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa titled; “Letter of Defection from PDP To APC” and dated 16th February, 2017.
It was signed by the defectors excluding the Minority Leader, who announced his defection on the floor of the House. The news of the defection was reported on February 6 that six out of the eight PDP lawmakers in the assembly were set to defect to APC but some of them refuted it.
The defectors included the Minority Leader, Akeem Bello (Amuwo Odofin II), Minority Whip, Mosunmola Sangodara (Surulere II), and Olusola Sokunle (Oshodi/Isolo I). Others were Jude Idimogu (Oshodi/Isolo II), Dayo Famakinwa (Ajeromi Ifelodun II) and Oluwa Fatai (Ajeromi/Ifelodun I).
However, the two PDP lawmakers left in the opposition are Victor Akande (Ojo I) and Dipo Olorunrinu (Amuwo-Odofin I). It is not known however, how much longer they can hold on before towing the line of shamelessness.
The question now is who is in the opposition, who is the one to correct the excesses of the present government, and they are many. All defectors have given reasons, or rather excuses backing their action, but none has taken the interest of the Nigerian nation at heart.
“They are all running away from the wrath of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and that is because they either have a skeleton in their cupboard or they are looking for where to butter their bread,” a political commentator, Harold Alagbe.
Recall that the immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime, has also dumped the PDP, a party that gave him two terms ticket as executive governor
His move, according to pundits, is seen to be a preparatory ground for an imminent political war between him and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Both politicians had before the 2015 general elections engaged in one of the heaviest political battles in the State as Chime planned to unseat Ekweremadu in the Senate.
Some Nigerians felt Chime’s move was to evade prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over his alleged involvement in the 2015 election money shared by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke.
Following Chime’s defection was the former governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Martins Elechi, another former governor, who served two terms under the PDP ticket. The immediate past governor of Ebonyi, Chief Martin Elechi, defected to the APC from the PDP. Elechi.
He registered for the APC at his country home in Echialike, Ikwo Local Government Area, in front of national party leaders. According to Elechi, he decided to join APC due to his love for Buhari and the current state of the PDP occasioned by its protracted crisis.
“I knew Buhari 49 years ago when I started the movement for the creation of Ebonyi as he intervened during my arrest with nine other comrades, by officers of the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO),” he said.
Ita- Giwa blamed her defection on idleness in her former party for over one year, adding that she was moving with her huge supporters from her Bakassi constituency to boost the fortunes of the APC in Cross River State.
This is the second time she will defecting to another party as she was elected as senator to represent the Cross River South senatorial district on the platform of the All Peoples Party from May 1999 to May 2003.
After leaving the senate in 2003, she joined the PDP, and became former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters.
The trend of events show that the politicians only want to be relevant at all times, the governance and interest of the people notwithstanding.
This is even saddening as the defectors are mostly of the Southeast and Southsouth geo-political zones.
In recent times, more issues have come to the fore to prove that the Nigeria nation is nothing but a rudderless ship, a plane on auto-pilot or basically a directionless school boy. The most prominent now is the mass defection of members of other political parties including or especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is supposedly the ‘opposition party’, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The latest in this mad rush of defections is the former Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who claimed ‘emotions’ (whatever that means) prompted her action.
These mass defections, in this crisis prone period, according to a political analyst, is a testimony to the fact that the people have lost value in opposing government’s draconian policies, saying it also stamps one party system of government on the country.
“That everybody is running to the APC testifies to the fact that the country has lost it. It shows that no one wants to oppose wrong policies any more so long it creates job and bring unmerited revenue his way,” he said.
While reacting angrily to Senator Ita-Giwa’s defection, he said: “This is a classic example of shamelessness, in addition to the previous high profile defections that have taken place in the last couple of weeks.”
Earlier, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, had come down hard on some politicians, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC, saying their defection was motivated by hunger and business interest.
Ekweremadu spoke at the expanded caucus meeting of the party in Abuja on a day that the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Ayodele Fayose, said he will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of the APC government by exposing its failures – more like a one man opposition force.
Among those present at the meeting were members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party, former and serving governors, former and serving members of the National Assembly, among other senior party chieftains.
It was probably the largest gathering of party stakeholders under one roof since the crisis that engulfed the party in 2016. It is also worthy of note that most people who had defected to the APC today were also in the meeting such as former Enugu and Ebonyi states’ governors.
At the meeting, the stakeholders had encouraged themselves not to be distracted by the leadership challenge at the national level, pledging allegiance to the party and hoping things would turn out right, which unfortunately have not today as the bickering between Ali Modo Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi continues unabated.
Ekweremadu was actually reacting to the recent defection of some PDP senators, and said the action of the three lawmakers had not in any way affected the numerical strength of the party.
But today, those three senators have taken a whole lot more in their wake.
As wickedly anticipated, six out of the eight PDP lawmakers at the Lagos State House of Assembly officially announced their defection to the ruling APC. The defection was announced through a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa titled; “Letter of Defection from PDP To APC” and dated 16th February, 2017.
It was signed by the defectors excluding the Minority Leader, who announced his defection on the floor of the House. The news of the defection was reported on February 6 that six out of the eight PDP lawmakers in the assembly were set to defect to APC but some of them refuted it.
The defectors included the Minority Leader, Akeem Bello (Amuwo Odofin II), Minority Whip, Mosunmola Sangodara (Surulere II), and Olusola Sokunle (Oshodi/Isolo I). Others were Jude Idimogu (Oshodi/Isolo II), Dayo Famakinwa (Ajeromi Ifelodun II) and Oluwa Fatai (Ajeromi/Ifelodun I).
However, the two PDP lawmakers left in the opposition are Victor Akande (Ojo I) and Dipo Olorunrinu (Amuwo-Odofin I). It is not known however, how much longer they can hold on before towing the line of shamelessness.
The question now is who is in the opposition, who is the one to correct the excesses of the present government, and they are many. All defectors have given reasons, or rather excuses backing their action, but none has taken the interest of the Nigerian nation at heart.
“They are all running away from the wrath of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and that is because they either have a skeleton in their cupboard or they are looking for where to butter their bread,” a political commentator, Harold Alagbe.
Recall that the immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime, has also dumped the PDP, a party that gave him two terms ticket as executive governor
His move, according to pundits, is seen to be a preparatory ground for an imminent political war between him and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Both politicians had before the 2015 general elections engaged in one of the heaviest political battles in the State as Chime planned to unseat Ekweremadu in the Senate.
Some Nigerians felt Chime’s move was to evade prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over his alleged involvement in the 2015 election money shared by former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke.
Following Chime’s defection was the former governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. Martins Elechi, another former governor, who served two terms under the PDP ticket. The immediate past governor of Ebonyi, Chief Martin Elechi, defected to the APC from the PDP. Elechi.
He registered for the APC at his country home in Echialike, Ikwo Local Government Area, in front of national party leaders. According to Elechi, he decided to join APC due to his love for Buhari and the current state of the PDP occasioned by its protracted crisis.
“I knew Buhari 49 years ago when I started the movement for the creation of Ebonyi as he intervened during my arrest with nine other comrades, by officers of the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO),” he said.
Ita- Giwa blamed her defection on idleness in her former party for over one year, adding that she was moving with her huge supporters from her Bakassi constituency to boost the fortunes of the APC in Cross River State.
This is the second time she will defecting to another party as she was elected as senator to represent the Cross River South senatorial district on the platform of the All Peoples Party from May 1999 to May 2003.
After leaving the senate in 2003, she joined the PDP, and became former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters.
The trend of events show that the politicians only want to be relevant at all times, the governance and interest of the people notwithstanding.
This is even saddening as the defectors are mostly of the Southeast and Southsouth geo-political zones.
