By Aminu Ibrahim
Somebody once said that Nigerian politics is dominated by politicians lacking principles, and this has never for once been contradicted by the unfolding drama we see in this country, especially now that we approach the dreaded Election Day. This unfortunate trend was also experienced in Niger State when the Deputy Governor, Malam Ahmed Musa Ibeto, and a few other loyalists defected to the APC in what is a protest for the former not being chosen as PDP’S governorship candidate. You would think the Seat of Power in Niger State or anywhereis designed to be succeeded by an incumbent’s Deputy.
The background to Ibeto’s bitterness was from the moment the incumbent Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, endorsed a governorship candidate other than him. Ibeto’s displeasure over that decision was not in doubt, and it didn’t take much to see that the man actually considered himself the worthiest successor, perhaps in his assumption that politics is meant to be built on the personal ambitions of an aspirant, and not lobbying for the will of a political party as it is in every true democratic space.
As it is with serving political leaders at the end of their tenure, it’s already a tradition to register support for an aspirant likely to represent the ideals which the leader seeks to implement or which he’s sure can be implemented by a particular aspirant.
In the spirit of such popular political tradition, Governor Aliyu endorsed Malam Umar Nasko, his Chief of Staff and many-time Commissioner in his administration. This decision, even with the boss’s appeal that it’s the best, didn’t go well with the Deputy Governor. But, for him to have come out so openly to rebel against the decision of the man who chose him to serve as his Deputy, which he has done for almost eight years, only goes to prove how selfishness destroys the reputation of our self-centred politicians.
In his refusal to accept the endorsement of Nasko, Ibeto, undiscouraged by Governor Aliyu’s decision, launched his political ambition and, forming alliance with some PDP stalwarts in the race, he challenged Nasko’s victory in the primaries and acceptance in the race.
The outcome of the primary elections, however, showed, without even a doubt, that even the weight of the party is behind Nasko as the latter emerged winner in an undeniably landslide victory.
With paltry 34 votes, against Nasko’s 908 votes, one would expect Ibeto to accept this convincing rejection in the party’s poll in good faith, seeing that he wasn’t even close to the overall winner. It’s even amusing that an aspirant who was seen as a political neophyte, a certain Malam Hanafi Sudan, even “outvoted” our own Ibeto, by having 57 votes – what’s also paltry compared to Nasko’s!
This humiliation, and seeming end of a political future, was too much for Ibeto to handle. Like other bitter aspirants who lost in the primary election, Ibeto waited to see the fall of Nasko by the libellous and slanderous schemes against Nasko initiated by a “coalition” of fellow aspirants and allied paid agents who couldn’t accept the idea of a youthful candidate as winner, being still plugged into our patriarchal and gerontocratic system that hardly favours younger people. The wait and scheme to destroy Nasko, which has come in various arrangements, from courtroom sessions to fabricated tales of Nasko’s past, were all futile.
So, it didn’t shock anyone when Ibeto eventually defected to the APC as General Muhammadu Buhari visited Niger State for a presidential rally, seeing that as an avenue to launch an image of him as an actually principled politician, whereas what he has shown is simply a selfish bid and desperation to have it his own way.
This goes against the philosophy of party politics that emphasises adherence to the dictate of the party and not the ambition of an individual. Sadly, Ibeto wanted the party to adopt his own version of democratic ideals, which is appealing to his private interests.
What beats me now is the fact that opportunists of such low standard always present themselves to the people as heroes, in their distortion of the true narrative of their ambition and greed. This is because our politicians assume that Nigerians are not smart enough to see between their dishonesty. As Ibeto defected out of frustration over having his hope of remaining in power and relevant after 2015 dashed, one can easily assume that it’s just a matter of time for him and other loyal opportunists to realise that politics is not built on selfish interests, only by collective struggles of the party stalwarts. Just the way a leopard can’t get rid of its spots, a self-centred politician will always remain desperate. But the price for this self-destructive ambition is the politician’s fading into eventual political oblivion, becoming irrelevant even in his constituency.
Ibrahim wrote from Plot 41, Bay Clinic Road, Tunga, Minna, Niger State. Email: [email protected]