Not Good for Democracy– Tobi Idowu
A spectre is haunting Nigeria- the spectre of divisions. A dark portent. At the hub of the government, walls are beginning to crack. The unholy alliance; it cell has had enough water. It has become turbid. Now it has burst. It burst on the 8th of June, 2015. Mark this day, everyone, in your calendars with black inks. What happened on that inglorious day in our democracy only helped to validate what the doubters of the APC, the ‘change’ party had always chimed before the General election, that when the party is elected, the individual interests of its disparate members will begin to play out negatively for our democracy. And they played out that unfaithful day. Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, the new Senate president and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively have had their ways going out of the way of the leadership of their party. Bukola Saraki got his even ruthlessly. To become the Senate president, he sold out the deputy senate president slot to the opposition party, PDP. And some called that good for democracy? It is not, and could not be good for Nigeria democracy.
That APC formation was borne out of necessity has always been known; that the quest for power, not people’s mandates, was the motives was known; that many of its ‘formators’ were those that had lost relevance in their former parties was equally known. But, Nigerians got tired of the behemoth called PDP! And they needed a messiah or messiahs even if the contraption that brought about these messiahs was dubious. Nigerians, thereby saw the coming of the APC literally and figuratively as that of coming of their liberators, even though, there were people of questionable antecedents in their rank. Now that our trust have been reposed in these set of liberators, the questionable elements among them suddenly metamorphosed into spectres, and they have started haunting us, and will for the next four years at least.
Against the wishes of their party, and after many failed persuasions, Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara contested, and won the senate presidency and speakership. For the inordinate ambitions of two men, and the dubious interests of their clouts, god-fathers(yes god-fathers), boot-lickers and fellow reprobates, the interests of the party has been jeopardised. It is foolish infantilism to say the party should not decide for the legislative chambers. Of course, this is democracy. The majority calls the shots, and the minority has their say. APC as the majority party should be the one dictating the pace of the affairs of both chambers, with inputs from the minority party. That’s how it works. Saraki became the Senate president with 51 members of the senate (interestingly senators from his party) not in the process. Shockingly, this was when a meeting with the APC senators, which Saraki was one, at the behest of the President of the country, the leader of their party was (supposed to be) ongoing. Insubordination! Insubordination taken so far was when Saraki complotted with the PDP senators to become their president against the wishes of his party, ditto Dogara. In the plot, he conceded the deputy senate president slot to the PDP: all for his self-aggrandizement, all against the wishes of and to the detriment of his party.
Furthermore, the ramifications of what played out at both floors of the legislative arm of government on the 8th of June has started to reveal the cracks in the ruling party. Different power blocs have beginning to emerge. It is on record that the new senate president visited former vice president, Atiku Abubakar immediately after his election. The visit is of course ominous. To those who could read well the entrails for signs, the visit revealed the behind the scene power tussle in the ruling party. This will seriously ruin our democracy. A divided APC will not be able to deliver the dividends of democracy Nigerians wished and longed for on the 28th March. We are back to the PDP Egypt, after we crossed the Red Sea.
In conclusion, Nigerians could only hope that our democracy will not be finally run amok through these cracks, and the ensuing rancour in the ruling party. The bodings are not good, not good for our democracy.
Perfect for Democracy- Ibrahim Oseni
Good things can come in odd ways.
Some man, sometimes must act ill for something to go well. This is centered on the ongoing rancour within the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC). Incontrovertibly, it is a blessing to Nigeria and a victory for democracy. This should not be thought otherwise.
To start with, many have dressed them in the apparel of traitors; but I think they are just inadvertent changers that will effectuate the much anticipated change. Saraki and Dogara are the necessary devils that are about to make our independence really independent. This is evident in their defiance, which saw them defy the directive of the movers and shakers of their party to clinch the Senate Presidency and Speakership positions respectively.
Frankly, the lawmakers’ perfidious action has created a crack in the wall of the ruling party. It has factionalized and polarized the loyalists of the newly inaugurated Buhari-led administration. And as such, the change- anticipating Nigerians have become critical of this intra- party conflagration. They fear that their dream of a new Nigeria, through the party they laboured to put in power may go unrealized. Some have even concluded that the vehicle of change is already on its path to perdition. All these thoughts are groundless. Heaven is not falling. To ensure the efficiency of any government, the major stakeholders must not align. Otherwise, we will be witnessing the emergence of another government of many for the benefit of few.
I had always known from the outset, that the alliance of a group of political philanderers and desperadoes was not the best for Nigeria, although it was necessary to undo our erstwhile tormentors. And now that our wish has been fulfilled, the haphazard union must be destroyed. If not, they will become a hard nut for Nigerians to crack.
President Muhammodu Buhari has sent a loud warning to the political interlopers and opportunists. The President, in his inaugural speech said: ‘I am a President of everybody; I am a President of nobody.’ There is only one interpretation for this, which is that the President will not be a puppet in the hand of any political puppeteer. Considering our political terrain, one cannot but hold this vow with a grain of salt. The independence of the President may be far from reality, giving the presence of the political ventriloquists. The only way to ensure this is to have deviant like Saraki whose treachery will show the party how the hand that make can also break.
It should be stressed that I am not gratifying perfidy. I am only concerned about what is good for the nation. If Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Senator Bukola Saraki had not outwitted the APC chieftains, the latter might have installed their own protégés. It would be an empire of another cabals: It could ruin our democracy. But now that the kingdom has been divided, each party will try to impress the electorate. They will serve as watch dogs to one another. Nigerians will be the beneficiaries of the lot. This will lead credence to the Shakespearean maxim: ‘ foul is fair and fair is foul.’
Drawing reference from the Machiavellian precept of principality, when the powerful unite, the poor are doomed. Conversely, when they scuffle, the gain is masses’.
The rancour within the ruling party is a blessing to Nigeria and victory for democracy.
