Against the backdrop of the lingering standoff in the National Assembly occasioned by the disagreement between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the federal lawmakers elected on its platform over selection of principal officers, analysts have advocated a clear separation between party and elected members.
Analysts who spoke with BD SUNDAY said there should be no fuss over any rebellious act by a party member since the party still has the opportunity to decide whether or not to give such an erring individual a return ticket next time.
A political scientist and lecturer with one of the universities in South West, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I think what is important is that elected members of a party discharge their service to the people who elected them. Agreed that they should also pay allegiance to the platform they rode to power on, but when it appears that that platform is not working in the interest of the masses, there is no need to pay any allegiance.
“On the other hand, if a party feels that a member is not abiding by the rule, there is no need to dramatise their shame as we are seeing now, the party should wait for that member in four years time. There is always a payback time, that is if they understand what they are doing,” the analyst said.
A psychologist with a health institution in Lagos believes there are no political parties in the country, but mere businesses set up by certain people to drain the commonwealth.
“For me, there are no political parties in the country. We see people fight and want to kill one another because of the wealth of the country. Politicians know themselves; the senators know the characters masquerading as party leaders and that’s why they want to give them a run for their money. I am sorry to say that political party system is dead in the country. The characters in control of parties are not worthy of being called leaders,” the psychologist said.
In their views, however, Ebenezer Babatope, a former minister of Transport and PDP chieftain; Ayo Opadokun, convener, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform; Itse Sagay, a legal scholar, professor of Law and human rights activist, and Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and human rights activist, who spoke with our correspondent through telephone, expressed the belief that political party is supreme and that anyone elected on the platform of any party must abide by the rules of that party.
Babatope told BD SUNDAY that everyone elected on a party’s platform must live within the rules of the organisation.
“To the best of my knowledge, the political party aggregates the activities of its members for the very good of the party. There’s no time when a party will not exercise control over those elected on its platform because party is supreme. In view of what is going on at the National Assembly, the party should, while exercising its supremacy, put in consideration commonsense and practical experience of life. I must say right away that a party must sustain the interest of its members and of its own existence also.”
Babatope was re-echoing his views in 2011 when Tambuwal, against the wish of PDP, emerged the speaker of the House of Representatives.
The PDP chieftain had said: “I must tell you that it was a negative development indeed. By contesting that post alone he manifested a flagrant disregard for party supremacy. He did not only undermine party supremacy, he also reduced party discipline.
“I know that the PDP leadership will not take kindly to what transpired. I am a student of History, and I know very well that no one has ever torpedoed history and had the last laugh. That young man has sown a seed of discord in the National Assembly. The young man who now calls himself the Speaker has stepped beyond his boundary.”
Expressing similar sentiment, Itse Sagay, said all those elected on a party’s platform must compulsorily abide by the rules of the party.
Sagay, who said that party must have a say in what happens to its elected members, said: “You cannot win an election on a party platform and then decide to go on a wild goose chase, or become a misguided missile. No, it does not happen that way. Any disciplined party member must abide by the rules of that party. There are leadership decisions that must be carried out, otherwise the party will collapse.”
It would be recalled that the constitutional lawyer, had advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to recognise Bukola Saraki as Senate president, arguing that the manner in which he (Saraki) emerged was faulty. According to him, it was immoral for Saraki, who is a member of the APC to “collude” with members of the PDP and hold an election in the absence of over 50 APC senators.
Ayo Opadokun said there was no time it was not expected that a political party should exercise control over those elected on its platform.
“Political party should be a platform established on a sheer belief, attitude and philosophy which every member must abide by. It is expected that a party must remain relevant even after election. In other words, the party’s philosophy should guide all those who stand election on its platform, and there is no time it should deviate from that. I have no inhibition to say that the APC as a party must remain relevant to deliver on its promises to the people and must effectively impose sanctions to discourage rebellion in the party,” Opadokun said.
Olisa Agbakoba blamed the APC for the crisis in the seemingly crisis in the party, believing that had the party put its house in order immediately after the elections, the current wrangling would have been nipped in the bud.
“The first thing is to say that the parliamentary system is dominant and controls all process and drives the agenda through the prime minister. In the presidential system, the party projects an individual- a president, a governor, senator and all that. Immediately the individual wins, the party takes the back seat. Unfortunately in Nigeria, we have a presidential system with a parliamentary culture because commonsense will detect that since APC is a majority, it will be out of place to pick a PDP for the post of Majority Leader.
“But the question I ask is; where was APC from March 28 to May 29? If the party had sat down after the victory and called all those elected on its platform and explained to them the way it wants things to go, the problem it is facing now may not have arisen. But it wasted two months. Having said that; it is not good that the APC government that should be rolling out programmes should be embroiled in this type of internal squabbles.
“In America, the party does not detect to the president who he must choose as a member of his cabinet. Congress picks principal officers according to rules of congress. The National Assembly rule stipulates that it is not the duty of the party to choose principal officers but the legislators themselves. It was this that Aminu Tambuwal used to become speaker against the wish of his party at that time.
“It is incumbent on the APC to ensure that it does everything possible to ensure that the current problem does not affect the government of Buhari and the country in general. They must see it as a challenge to resolve the issue and move on.”
ZEBULON AGOMUO
