Party vs people: Politicians in conflict of interest

Party vs people: Politicians in conflict of interest

Fashola, Rochas and Amaechi

The absence of All Progressives Congress leaders and governors from the Southern Leaders’ Summit in Calabar, Cross River State, underscores the question on whether the allegiance of politicians should be to the people or to the party, ALLWELL OKPI writes

When leaders from states in southern states of Nigeria gathered in Calabar, Cross River State, for a pre-national conference meeting aimed at harmonising the positions of the South ahead of the forthcoming national dialogue, the APC governors were conspicuously absent.

The meeting, under the aegis of the Southern Leaders’ Summit, had nine governors – Governors Liyel Imoke, Cross River State;  Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo;  Peter Obi, Anambra; Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta; Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa; Theodore Orji, Abia; Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom; Martin Elechi, Ebonyi; and Sullivan Chime, Enugu – in attendance.

Out of the nine governors that attended, seven were members of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mimiko is a member of the Labour Party, while Obi belongs to the All Progressive Grand Alliance.

The remaining eight governors belonging to the All Progressives Congress – Governors of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola; Osun, Rauf Aregbesola; Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi; Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi; Oyo, Abiola Ajimobi; Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun; Edo, Adams Oshiomhole; and Imo, Rochas Okorocha, did not attend.

This, analysts say, brings to the fore, once again, the contest between regional interest and partisan politics.

The scenario has played out severally in Nigeria’s recent political history.

In different regions, politicians with different political interests have been known to take conflicting positions on issues aligning with the dictates of their parties.

From 1999 till date, the National Assembly has gone through many controversies ranging from attempts to impeach the President to the recent attempt to amend the constitution, and legislators have been seen as promoting the interest of the parties above that of region or the people they represent.

An example was the upset that occurred when Aminu Tambuwal was elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to the zoning arrangement in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, the Speaker should be from the South-West. Mrs. Mulikat Akande, representing Ogbomosho North, South and Orire Federal Constituency in Oyo State, was tipped for the position.

But legislators, who were members of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, mostly from the South-West, aligned with some PDP legislators, mostly from the North, to scuttle the arrangement and elected Tambuwal, who is from the North-West.

This led, partly, to the cries of marginalisation by many leaders of the Yoruba, owing to the fact that despite being one of the three most populous tribes in Nigeria, no Yoruba man or woman occupied any of the top-10 offices in the country.

From one geopolitical zone to another, there have been cases of politicians, particularly governors of   boycotting meetings based on their political inclination.

The recent meeting of the South-East and South-South governors was boycotted by Okorocha, Oshiomhole and Amaechi. Interpreting their absence, analysts have said the three APC governors stayed away because the meeting was purportedly planned for the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term.

In the North, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and Jonah Jang of Plateau State have boycotted some meetings of the Northern States Governors Forum, especially since the crisis that erupted from the Nigerian Governors Forum chairmanship election last year.

In the same vein, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who is a member of the Labour Party, has not been attending the meetings of the South-West Governors’ Forum, which is dominated by APC governors.

The absence of the then ACN governors at a pan-Yoruba conference, convened by Chief Hannah  Awolowo, wife of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at Awolowo’s residence at Ikenne, Ogun State, in 2011, was also debated.

Though the governors said they were constrained by their schedules, many believed it was a boycott.

During the southern leaders’ conference, the APC governors from the South were in Ibadan alongside their northern counterparts to discuss unemployment in the country.

Reacting to the development, spokesman of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the APC governors were caught in a web of conflict of interests between what the party wanted and what the people wanted.

He said the governors should have dropped partisanship and attended the Calabar confab.

He said, “For the APC governors, I think they have a conflict between the stance of their party and the interest of the people. When the (national) conference was announced, the APC said it was a waste of time and a diversion, they said they would not attend but it seems reality is dawning on them and the governors are not making a U-turn and are now embracing the conference.

“If you look at the list released by the APC governors — Fashola, Fayemi, and Aregbesola — you would see that they went beyond what they were required to do. Each state was to nominate three delegates, Lagos nominated six; Osun, and Ekiti also nominated six each. They went ahead to nominate elder statesmen.

“The fact that the APC governors were not at the Calabar meeting is a minus for them because it was not a political gathering but a gathering of people from the South. Leaders, who are leading states, should know that the interest of the states they govern transcends the interest of their parties. Inability to draw that line is a clear mistake. They should avoid the mistake of reducing the interest of their states to that of their party.”

Odumakin added that there was a possibility of the APC’s stance hurting the political career of the governors.

He said, “The governors realised that and that is probably why they did a U-turn and embraced the conference.  They know that at the end of the day, those who stand against their people, on a fundamental issue such as restructuring Nigeria, will pay for it down the line.”

However, the Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relation, Prof. Solomon Akinboye, said the APC governors were not under any obligation to attend the Calabar meeting.

He said, “It was a summit, it was not mandatory for them to attend. I don’t think there is any consensus that makes it mandatory for them to attend. But ordinarily, I think they should have attended. The governors have the choice to attend any event. For example, somebody like Mimiko may not attend the South-West governors’ forum meeting. That they (APC governors) did not attend does not mean they are not part of the leaders of the South.”

Akinboye urged the APC and others to take part in the national conference, saying it had come to stay.

Similarly, a political analyst, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, said there was no reason for APC governors or leaders to participate in the Calabar conference, saying it had a political undertone.

He said, “When people call a purely partisan political meeting, you don’t expect APC leaders to attend. This is a high political time and you don’t attend a meeting when you are aware of the political undertone of the meeting.

“It is a wrong premise to think that the absence of the APC governors in such meetings would affect their fortunes at the election because there have been several public meetings that they have attended. If you call a neutral meeting to discuss issues that affect the country, I believe they will attend. But if you call a meeting with a political undertone and with the aim of adopting a particular candidate, you don’t expect them to attend.

“It was not a neutral meeting of southern leaders. It’s a smokescreen, the underlying tone is political. Are you saying APC people are not interested in  a southern agenda? It can’t be.  People boycott meetings if they perceive there is a political undertone in it. The resolutions of the meeting clearly show that there was a political undertone. If APC calls a meeting and PDP people think it has a political undertone, they will not attend.”

Igbuzor, who is the Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, however noted that politicians ought to be loyal to the people as well as their parties.

“The allegiance of politicians should be to their parties and also to the people, based on the understanding that parties are formed to serve the people. The people should reject the party whose interest does not align with the interest of the people; that is what democracy is about. This is why there is the need for a free and fair election,” he said.