By Fred Itua, Abuja
The once-powerful Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is bleeding. The party, which at some point, boasted that it will rule for the next 60-100 years is fighting with itself to stay afloat. Since the party lost power at the centre in March 2015, it has not recovered from the after effects. Unlike other key opposition parties across major democracies of the world, the PDP has failed to be the mouthpiece of the people in their time of need.
The misfortunes of the party has crept into the National Assembly, particularly, the Senate, where at least, four serving Senators have dumped the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Despite its close shave with taking over the leadership of the Senate in 2015, when it had about 49 members, the PDP is now fighting to stay afloat.
On June 9, 2015, when the Eight Senate was inaugurated, the ruling APC had about 59 Senators, while the opposition PDP had a commanding 49 members. Twenty months down the line, the story has changed. Today, APC has 65 members, while PDP has 42. It has lost four members through defections.
Ekweremadu and defecting PDP Senators
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy President of the Senate, has been in office since 2003. He was first elected Deputy President of the Senate in 2007 and was reelected in 2011. In 2015, when the party lost the majority, he formed an alliance with the APC-controlled Senate and again emerged as Deputy President of the Senate.
Prior to his emergence as the Deputy President of the Senate in 2015, something played out. After the 2015 elections, APC could not secure any Senatorial seat in the Red Chamber in the South-east and was in a dilemma on who to field to occupy the position of the Senate President. Ekweremadu, who has been a member of the PDP since 1999, was reportedly approached to dump his party in order to emerge Senate President.
According to those familiar with the development, Ekweremadu was prevailed upon at the last minute by PDP leaders not to dump the party. For many observers, Ekweremadu’s move signaled the beginning of the gale of defection currently rocking the PDP caucus in the Senate.
Again, Ekweremadu in mid-January, 2017, delayed in refuting claims that he was nursing plans to defect to APC. His delay, fueled phoney insinuations and allegedly laid the ground work for PDP Senators to defect.
In mid September, 2016, Senator Joshua Dariye, made the first move and dumped the PDP under which he served as governor of Plateau State for eight years for the ruling APC. In nine years, Dariye has moved from the PDP to the Labour Party (LP) and back to the PDP.
“My decision is informed by the protracted division at the national level of the PDP that led to the massive movement of my supporters to APC. Arising from this, I therefore write to formerly inform you of my decision to go along with my supporters. I thank you for your understanding,” Dariye had said in a letter read by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
On November 30, 2016, Senator Yele Omogunwa (Ondo South), dumped the PDP and joined APC. He cited the crisis in the PDP, as well as the need to work for the election bid of Rotimi Akeredolu who is now the governor of Ondo State. His defection caused an uproar in the Senate and PDP lawmakers who were angered by the move, staged a walkout in protest.
Also in January 2017, Senator Nelson Effiong from Akwa Ibom State defected to APC. Effiong was the first Senator from the South-South and the South-East to dump the PDP.
While announcing his defection, Senator Effiong said: “I have decided that no reasonable politician who is worth his salt would remain and allow his people to be drifting about without a direction. So I have decided today, the 19th day of January, 2017 to resign from the PDP and move to the party that is bringing peace and direction to this country, the APC. So I move.”
The latest is Senator Andy Uba from Anambra State. He defected on February 21, 2017. According to Senator Uba, APC has ideology and focus which he said he needed to tap into, to provide quality representation to his constituents. Sources familiar with his defection, however believe that he took the move in order to pave the way for him to contest on the platform of APC in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
Uba had further said that he joined APC because of other personalities in the party with sound ideas and whom he looked up to in politics.
He listed some of the personalities to include the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and APC National Auditor, Chief George Moghalu. Uba had stressed that with such calibre of people, the party would take the State to enviable heights.
What the constitution says
Section 68 (1)g of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic states clearly that “A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected: provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”
Defecting lawmakers usually base their reason on the crisis rocking the PDP. Since the constitution is clear on that, it is sometimes impossible for anyone to fault their defection or ask that their seats be declared vacant.
PDP’s rants
In the Senate, it has become a tradition for the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio to protest whenever a PDP lawmaker defects. Although there is crisis in the PDP, Akpabio is always quick to call on Saraki to declare the seats of the defecting senators vacant.
His calls have however been met with stiff resistance from APC Senators who are in a hurry to remind Akpabio of the disturbing crisis in the party.
Akpabio who spoke when Senator Omogunwa defected, had this to say: “One of our colleagues, Distinguished Senator Yele Omogunwa, decided to jump the ship, maybe out of the excitement of the Ondo (governorship) election, which the PDP is challenging and other political parties. He did that, not taking the cognizance of the recent Supreme Court’s decision settling the issue of the chairmanship of the party, which had been an issue in the last few months. That issue was settled in favour of Senator Makarfi’s leadership, which was set up at the Port Harcourt Convention.
“The moment that happened, this means the PDP as a family has no division. The Supreme Court does not recognise any divisions in the PDP as of today because the issue had been settled.
“At the appropriate time, I believe that working with the caucus, we will work with the national leadership of our party to take a correct legal pronouncement and ensure that the seat is declared vacant.
“Just like you observed, the reason for his jumping the ship from PDP to APC this morning is in order for him to go and support the new governor-elect, Akeredolu, that is the reason. It is not on the basis that there is a division in the PDP and that is not recognised by the law. He stated in his letter that he wanted to go and support Akeredolu. He should do so by resigning and give us back our seat.”
A lawmaker’s reaction
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Joseph Edionwele in a chat with Sunday Sun on the gale of defection rocking the PDP, explained why the trend is gaining momentum.
He said: “Politics is local. Those people you see defecting are doing so either because their people do not want them or because they have decided to join another party. For instance, if in my community I decide to cross over to the other side, I am on my own.
There are people that will vote for me and right now, they are in the PDP. That is why I am saying that politics is local. If I defect, whatever I do here will be irrelevant. The people defecting are not doing so because of the crisis in the party. When you see a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate defecting, it is because of the politics in their environment.”