Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole is reported to have said that the winner will take all at the National Assembly in the coming dispensation. The concept of ‘power sharing ‘, perhaps, makes nonsense of the electoral struggle and tussle which saw his party emerge with more members in the National Assembly. The party big wigs have met and decided the power sharing formula in the Senate and National House of Representatives. They have said that Bukola Saraki, current Senate President, who lost his re-election bid, and thus will not return to the Senate, would be replaced by someone from the North- east, specifically Senator Ahmed Lawan, whom the party had tipped for the position in 2015, when it did not know that Bukola Saraki had other plans. However Senator Ali Ndume, who also hails from the same zone, wants the position, and says he would not back down, in spite of his party’s preference for someone else. Ndume says the party should give the broad outline for positions, in terms of zoning the posts, but should not go the specifics of saying who it wants. The Party has looked in the direction of the South West for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and is touted to have given a nod for the emergence of Femi Gbajabiamila for the post. Gbaja was the party’s choice in 2015, but they did not know that members of the house had other things up their sleeves. The game is on as the usual political moves has commenced. Already there seem to be dissenting voices and actions within, and naturally, outside the ruling party. There have been both mild, and, if you like, wild protests against the party’s intrusion into the ‘internal affair’ of the National Assembly. Many people have held that the members should enjoy democracy by way of multiple contenders, which may be why 18 people have reportedly indicated their intention to vie for the position of speaker, in spite of the party’s backing and endorsement of Gbajabiamila of Lagos.
The party insists that people who flew their ticket to emerge into elective positions should not kick down the ladder that took them up. The party must have a grip on those who got its ticket, and rode on its back to win. In the celebrated case of Amechi vs. PDP, in 2007 or thereabout, where in other respondents where joined, the Supreme Court ruled that voters cast their votes for the parties, not necessarily for individuals. The ballot papers are adorned with party emblems, not candidates. The party should, therefore, be supreme. The flipside is that candidates had their faces on campaign posters, and expended their resources making campaign rounds across their constituencies, senatorial zones, states, and the nation in varying degrees of responsibility. The debate can continue, but this intervention is concerned about the fragile unity of the nation about to be further harmed by the ruling party’s distribution of offices in the National Assembly. First, we must note that it is National Assembly as against party assembly. In this wise, the President of Nigeria presides over everyone, including those who turned their backs on him in the voting cubicle. The reference to National Assembly here is not an insinuation that the party should not bother about allocating positions to zones, but that it must come to terms with the reality of its environment of operation. Some realities must not be glossed over. Religion and ethnic leanings are stark realities of our time that cannot be wished away. It gave birth to zoning, and constitutional provision of federal character, for which the cut off mark in Unity Secondary schools differ from state to state. The intention is to give everyone a chance to have a share of the national cake of education.
The foregoing leads to the conclusion that the All Progressive Congress[APC], in its winner-takes-all tendency, will widen the cracks in the uniting wall of the federation. Its exclusion of the South-east, in the zoning formula at the National Assembly is dangerous, and inimical to unity. I will go back to a bit of political history to buttress their jettisoning of past moves that helped the nation. In 1979, there was no six zonal structure, as we have it today. The nation tended to operate on a tripod on north, east and west, yet the politicians were very sensitive in their distribution of offices. They were not governed by greed as seem to be the case today. The then ruling, National Part of Nigeria[NPN] was very strong in reining in its erring members, and controlling political offices. The party had a certain strong politician from the South-west known as Chief Meredith Adisa Akinloye. He was powerful in determining what happened in the party, yet his state, and entire zone, were controlled by Unity Party of Nigeria[UPN], led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who some greedy and overbearing godfathers of today claim to pattern claim pattern themselves after. Awolowo was the darling of his people, and they voted overwhelmingly for his party, yet the party at the centre, in deference to unity of Nigeria, kept chairmanship of the party within that area. The Speaker of the House of Representatives was Chief Edwin Ume-Ezoke, whose South east people voted massively for Nigerian People’s Party[NPP] led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The ruling party and the NPP had an accord that led to the emergence of Umezoke, who was in NPP, but even when the alliance hit the rock, Umezoke remained speaker in deference to the unity of Nigeria. The President of the Senate was Joseph Wayas, who hailed from the south-south. He was in the NPN. There were only 90 senators at that time.
I have gone to this historical length to tell the ruling party that it is moving in the wrong and dangerous trajectory in its distribution of offices in the National Assembly. The argument that the south-east should put its mouth where it cast its vote is patently faulty for a country that pretends to be united, one that allows a child from Yobe to be admitted into a unity school with 10 marks or so , but would peg that of the child from Imo or Anambra at 140 or so. The politicians of 1979 seem to be more conscious of unity than the selfish ones of today. In practical terms, there may be not be much to it than the psychological soothing balm of belongingness for the Deputy Senate President to be conceded to the zone. The National Assembly is an arm of government from which the zone should not be excluded. As the winner takes all, it should know that the nation exists on the basis of equity.