Defectors, Buhari and APC

When general elections near, defections and realignments are normal, they add salt and pepper to the game of politicking.
Most of the senators that defected on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, have different reasons for doing so- some for losing the control of party structures at their states.
For some, it is the only way to secure a return ticket; for others, it is a show of loyalty to their godfathers.
That’s the game.
You can’t blame the senators; they need a political survival strategy that works for them.
Let us also reflect.
Most of the senators that defected were members of the nPDP – one leg in APC, the other in PDP.
They were in APC for a reason, and the reason is no more.
However, to be fair to the majority of the defectors, they don’t have personal grudges with President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari also said: “None of the defecting federal lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had any specific grievances against me or the government I lead; neither do I harbour anything against any of them.” 2019 presidential/parliamentary elections will be exciting in some parts of Nigeria.
Parliamentary candidate in PDP may ask his supporters to vote a presidential candidate in APC.
What happened on Tuesday is not new and will not be the last.
In fact, the green chamber has witnessed its own version.
Similarly, at local and state levels same scenarios have happened and will continue to happen.
Furthermore, it will climax after party primaries; we will witness more defections across the two major political parties.
It is a honey-bitter game, depending on how political parties utilise it and how the voting population defines it.
Some defections will be costly mistakes while others will yield fruits.
The APC as a political party with sudden fame and power with diverse political blocs found itself in a Catch-22 situation – succumb to pressure from a senator or a member House of Representatives then loses a sitting-governor.
It is either of the two.
The APC went for sitting governors but mismanaged the crisis at local and national levels.
The dice is castbest option now for the APC is to let it be, but manage the remaining crisis politically and scientifically.
Not also forgetting that, with the current political settings in Nigeria, same problem will happen to any political party in power.
Nevertheless, the political tension will only settle after the 2019 elections.
But it’s something interesting for students of politics.
Zayyad I.
Muhamma, Jimeta, Adamawa state z a y m o h d @ y a h o o .
c o m , 08036070980