In the Nigerian political firmament, defections often called “realignment” by political actors has become the order of the day principally between the political elites in the All Progressives Congress ( APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). Unfortunately this so called realignment is driven by personal ambition, selfishness, pecuniary gains and pursuit of power .
These defections which some calls ” cross-carpeting” are often characterized by a recurring migrations or movements of politicians from the political parties that put them in power which often weakens party structures, encourages one party dominating the others and erosion of public trust.
Moreover, this phenomenon of defections has raised critical questions about party loyalty, ideological commitment and the stability of political system. This trend often characterized by mass movement of political actors from one party to another. This critics says is usually motivated not by ideological differences but by personal interest, political survival and strategic positioning ahead of coming elections.
The truth of the matter is that defections are not ideologically based but also to avoid prosecution and access to political patronage. This has encouraged politicians to often shift allegiances to secure party tickets or align with the ruling party to gain influence.
For instance, frequent movements is common among high profile political elites like former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, Aminu Tambuwal, Rotimi Amechi, Peter Obi, governors of the South-South region, legislators in the National and State Assemblies and recently NNPP in Kano and PDP in Plateau state to the ruling All Progressive Party (APC).
This culture of defections hampers the development of a stable issue based party system in Nigeria as elections are turning to contest of personality rather than principles and ideological inclinations.
However, it is observed that weak internal democracy, power concentration, pre and post election shifts are responsible for these defections. Lack of transparency in party primaries and unnecessary imposition of candidates paves the way for politicians to defect from one party to another.
Therefore to effectively curb the growing trend of political defections in Nigeria, various reforms and laws must be put in place to checkmate the activities of disgruntled political actors. Moreover, the Nigerian constitution and electoral laws need to amended to give powers to the electoral laws and the judiciary.
All these are necessary to be done so that political defections is not left unchecked. No doubt, the motives and frequency in Nigerian situation suggests a deeper problem of political opportunism and lack of ideological discipline. If defections are not checked, it will continue to weaken the foundations of our democracy.
