Political Parties Merger: Matters Arising

The on-going merger project of major opposition political parties in Nigeria has generated mixed reactions from Nigerians. While some have expressed doubt over its workability, others say it will not fail like previous attempts.

Beyond this, the news that the merger, being spearheaded by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with a view to overthrowing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections, would come to fruition in June has caused excitement in some quarters.

Those who think it is not feasible, from all indications, are mostly beclouded by the thought of previous failures of political parties merger right from the early period of post-colonial political era in the country.

Those who are not only longing for a change, but also against a drift to a one-party state, given what they christen elephantine and intimidating nature of the PDP, are looking forward to any arrangement that could displace the ruling party from office at the centre.

They reckon that this would give Nigerians the opportunity to compare the PDP and another party, with a view to knowing which one is better. This stance is with the knowledge and acknowledgement that it will be difficult for any political party, as an individual institution, to displace the PDP at the federal level.

Such stance is based more on the strong structure the PDP has evolved over the years, which is capable of dwarfing any single opposition, than that the PDP is invincible, or always presents the best candidates for elections.

Indeed, a political party that has 24 governors out of 36, and, therefore, controls two-thirds of the country, and whose members constitute the majority in the National Assembly has enough muscle to keep winning elections. The reason for this is simple. Governors are the prime movers in the country’s polity.

The implication is that as long as these governors keep on capturing people’s hearts in their respective states, using their performance, popularity or intimidation, they can deliver the votes to their political party.

Also, the governors are the ones whose agents could manipulate elections to suit their purpose in a country like Nigeria, which is still struggling to organise transparent polls.

In spite of the fore-going, however, the merger and the prospect of one singular opposition party look bright, particularly going by the meticulousness of the planners. They are also taking things stage by stage and have recorded successes at each stage so far.

Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, a former governor of Yobe State and member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), recently confirmed the current rapprochement among the major opposition parties.

“The ACN has appointed their team. The ANPP has also done the same thing and I am part of the committee. We have met several times. We have toured North Central. We met our supporters in North Central in Lafia. We were in Enugu, South East of Nigeria for a whole day. We are going to go to visit other zones”, he said.

Still, there are fears in certain circles over the alliance achieving the desired result. One factor that sticks out as possible cause of failure is selfishness on the part of key planners of the alliance, topmost among which is former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd). Experience has shown that leaders of the political parties that had previously attempted such arrangement never dropped their personal ambition, ego and interests.

It was the same ego trip and the posture of self-importance by leaders of the ACN and the CPC that truncated the merger/alliance plan of the two parties in 2011. If the Buharis and Bola Tinubus had played down self, perhaps, the merger arrangement could have worked.

Unfortunately, these people stuck to their guns in their demands, hence the merger deal never came through. Of course, such merger failure made it easier for the PDP to win the presidential election in 2011.

Currently, Buhari has indicated interest to contest, yet again, the presidency in 2015. He said that he would present himself because of the numerous appeals by his supporters for him to bid for the number one position. This is against his earlier declaration, after the 2011 elections, that he would not seek elective office again.

With Buhari ready to contest in 2015, the pertinent question is: Would he agree to step down for another person, in the event of a merger, if this becomes imperative, despite the assurances by leaders of the ACN, CPC and ANPP that this time their personal interests would be secondary?

Also, if Buhari is joining the 2015 presidential race because his supporters are putting pressure on him, it is not likely that he would resist appeal to step down the same way in any merger arrangement that would not present him as the candidate, knowing that it is likely to be his last shot at the top position?

As it stands, Buhari is obviously doing the bidding of his supporters and those appealing to him instead of acting on his conviction. Would he be prepared to sacrifice his interest and that of his followers for the interest of the country? This is a feat yet to be achieved by any Head of State in Nigeria.

Considering that all past leaders of the country had always claimed to base their decisions on the interest of the country first, though such decisions had led the country to its present state of underdevelopment, and aspiring leaders also put forth selfless service  as their focus, the kind of leader Nigeria does not need is quite obvious.

It is thus deducible that political merger or not, all those at the helm of Nigeria’s governance cannot claim not to know what is best for the country. The problem had always been doing the right thing for the benefit of the citizenry, playing down selfish interests.