Defection of politicians from one political party to another is not a strange phenomenon in the democratic system most especially in Africa and Nigeria in particular. KEMI OLAITAN writes that the spate of the defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), has turned the ruling party into an abode of corrupt politicians.
When the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) came to power in 2015 on the mantra of ‘Change’, Nigerians were full of hope that the party would positively turn things around. The reason for this optimism is not far-fetched as the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of the then President Goodluck Jonathan, became perceived as a curse to the nation. The major albatross of the PDP was its lacklustre approach in tackling the security challenges that confronted the country, most especially, in the North East. The nation’s economy was also in comatose while allegations of corruption and corrupt practices among top functionaries were treated with kid-gloves.
But for a party formed in February 2013 following a merger of the three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP – a faction of then ruling PDP, more than six years after been in the driver’s seat, APC appears to have become a cesspit for alleged corruption-laden defectors who become as white as a snow shortly after teaming up with the ruling party.
Indeed, a former National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, speaking during the 2019 elections, gave vent to this position when he said those who joined the party would have their “sins” forgiven. He charged more politicians in opposition parties to toe the path of some members of the PDP who had defected to the APC at that time.
His words, “I am told that there are a lot of very senior people from PDP who have decided to join forces with President Buhari to take the broom to sweep away PDP and to continue to ensure that APC continues to preside all over Nigeria.
“We have quite a several other leaders who have come…, once you have joined APC, all your sins are forgiven.”
What has become a pattern since the advent of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, is that several Nigerian politicians and political leaders, with alleged corruption cases hanging on their necks, have found a haven in the APC which negates the self-acclaimed anti-corruption leaning of the administration.
With the latest being the recent defection of former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, between 2015 and this year, the list of defectors is endless.
Senator Godswill Akpabio
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, defected from the PDP to APC in 2018, claiming it was because he discovered that President Buhari was “a man of integrity and a nationalist.” However, there were tons of allegations levelled against him from when he was the number one citizen in Akwa Ibom State. He was accused of diverting over One Hundred Billion Naira ( N100 billion) only from the oil-rich state between 2007 and 2015.
There have also been allegations of his involvement in N40 billion fraud in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which is under the supervision of his ministry. When he was appointed substantive minister, shortly after joining the party, he became the boss of his erstwhile prosecutor, Festus Keyamo, who was also made the Minister of State in the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs. Keyamo was before taking up Buhari’s appointment as an independent prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu
A serving member of the upper chamber of the National Assembly representing Abia North Senatorial District and former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, after nine years of intense legal battle to avoid being convicted for charges of corruption, formally joined the APC in November 2016. He left the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) for the APC while his prosecution for alleged money laundering, by the EFCC to the tune of N7.65 billion, was ongoing. He was convicted and sentenced to prison. While serving his jail term, the Supreme Court in May 2020 ruled that Justice Mohammed Idris, who convicted him, lacked the power to sentence the former governor. His case file was returned to the High Court for retrial.
Senator Joshua Dariye
A former governor of Plateau State and former Senator representing Plateau Central, Joshua Dariye, who was convicted of criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust in September 2016 also defected from the PDP to the APC. The EFCC in 2007 had preferred 23 counts of money laundering involving alleged diversion of about N1.126 billion Plateau State government’s ecological funds against him. And in June 2018, Justice Adebukola Banjoko, a judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Gudu, sentenced Dariye to 14 years imprisonment having found him guilty on 15 out of the 23 counts preferred against him. However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja in November 2018 commuted the sentence from 14 years to 10 years and this was confirmed by a five-man panel of the Supreme Court in March this year.
Governor David Umahi
The Ebonyi State governor in November 2020, formally defected from the PDP to the APC alongside members of his cabinet with the claim that the South-East geo-political zone had suffered injustice from the PDP. Meanwhile, the EFCC had linked him with an alleged diversion of N400 million into private pockets during the 2015 presidential election through an arms deal. His property had also been sealed off before he opted to join the APC and ostensibly have his “sins forgiven”.
Senator Stella Oduah
Former Minister of Aviation and now a serving Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District, Stella Oduah, on 27 August 2021, joined the APC, claiming she joined the party to change the political narrative in the South-East. However Oduah, like others, has been under investigation by the EFCC for her alleged involvement in over N9.4 billion fraud. The allegations included a dubious contract for the supply of security equipment to 22 airports across the country.
Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd.)
The former Chief of Army Staff (COAS)and a retired lieutenant general, Azubuike Ihejirika, joined the APC in March 2021. The Department of State Services (DSS) in 2016 arrested him in connection with a $2.1 billion arms purchase probe involving the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.). A source at the DSS while speaking on his arrest told journalists, “It is true that we picked up the former COAS; he is helping us with the investigation into the arms procurement when he was in service, but it is too early to say when he would be released on bail.”
The former Army boss however denied the allegations against him. Ever since he joined the party, nothing has been heard of the issue.
Otunba Gbenga Daniel
The former governor of Ogun State who had been fraternizing with the All Progressives Congress since the 2019 general elections despite being the Director-General of the PDP Campaign Organization in the Gateway State, defected to the ruling party in February this year.
He was arraigned before an Ogun State High Court in 2012 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on a 32-count charge bordering on misappropriation of funds to the tune of over N200 million, criminal breach of trust, and abuse of office.
Senator Iyiola Omisore
Former deputy governor of Osun State and former Senator representing Osun East Senatorial district formally defected from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the APC on 16 February, 2021. He was arrested by the EFCC for receiving over N1.3 billion from funds pilfered from the office of the National Security Adviser to fund the elections of Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as Governor of Ekiti State in 2014.
Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala
The former governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, in 2019, defected to the APC from the Action Democratic Party (ADP). It will be recalled that the EFCC had levelled accusations of an N11.5 billion fraud case against him, alongside two others, Senator Hosea Agboola, a former Oyo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters under his administration and Mr Femi Babalola, an Ibadan-based businessman.
The trio is facing 11 counts bordering on conspiracy, award of contracts without budgetary provision, obtaining money by false pretences, acquiring property with money derived from an illegal act, and concealing its ownership. The case has since become a cold case.
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode
The EFCC, in 2016 filed a 17-count charge against the former Minister of Aviation, at the Federal High Court, Lagos, for an alleged fraud of N4.6 billion. The spokesperson for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation in the 2015 general election, was arraigned alongside former Finance Minister, Mrs Nenadi Usman; one Danjuma Yusuf, and a company named Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Limited.
The charges against them border on conspiracy, unlawful retention of proceeds of theft, and money laundering and were said to have allegedly committed the offences between 8 January 2015 and 25 March 2015 in the build-up to the general election. However, between 2016 and now, Fani-Kayode has been doing all he can to thwart the trial.
Meanwhile, a social critic, Mr Kunle Ogundoro, speaking on the defection of high ranking politicians to the ruling party, accused the political class of taking Nigerians for a ride, stating that the political system that is practised in the country is bereft of any ideology. According to him, members of the political class do not see themselves as accountable to the populace but rather to their interests.
On his part, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Dr Tade Oludayo, said those defecting are doing so because they know that there is no difference between the APC and PDP.
He said, “It doesn’t matter anymore in Nigeria because the political parties are two sides of the same coin, particularly the APC and the PDP. Allegations of corruption must be proven at the law courts because everyone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. This is the task before the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, to prosecute all cases and not suspend cases because such a person has joined the camp of Mr President where it seems that their sins are forgiven.
“The anti-graft agency must show that they are not being used to hound political enemies of the ruling party by prosecuting those who have defected into APC.”
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