A prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has warned that the wave of defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) may be giving President Bola Tinubu a misleading sense of achievement in his administration.
Speaking during an appearance on Soni Irabor Live, a News Central programme aired on Saturday, Momodu criticised the lack of ideology behind political defections in Nigeria, stating that they contribute to growing disillusionment among citizens.
“If you are joining a new party, you should be able to tell us what that party has done for the people and then it becomes a lot easier for us to follow you so that even the doubting and unbelieving Thomases can follow you and say ‘oh, this party has done extremely well’,” Momodu said.
He lamented the level of suffering in the country and expressed hope that the president is being made aware of the real situation on the ground.
“But everywhere you turn in Nigeria, people are crying. I have never seen this level of bitterness and I hope the president is taking this criticism in good faith,” he said.
“I hope people are telling him (Tinubu) the situation of things out there because there is no way he can feel or know it. He who feels it knows it,” he added.
Momodu further suggested that the president might be detached from the country’s pressing issues, as the constant influx of defecting politicians could distort his perception of reality.
“So I am not sure that the president actually knows what is going on because if you see all the governors decamping to your party, won’t you think you are the greatest thing that happened to Nigeria?” he asked. “You can’t blame the man if he feels that way.”
Addressing the legal implications of defection, the Ovation magazine publisher criticised how Nigeria’s constitution is routinely ignored.
“But you know that we’ve thrown our constitution to the Atlantic Ocean long ago. The constitution has been thrown overboard, which is unfortunate,” Momodu stated.
He cited constitutional provisions that require elected officials who switch parties to vacate their positions, adding: “The constitution says clearly that if somebody elected on the platform of the party decides to decamp, then he would have to vacate that seat.”
According to Momodu, public officials who defect should relinquish the offices they hold in honour of their former mandates.
“So any man who is tired of his political party should be ready to forfeit everything and take it in good faith. You cannot continue to live as if you are still in power,” he said.
He insisted that political parties, not individuals, should control who represents them.
“The party in power is the one who has the right to define who will represent them,” he said.
Condemning the frequency and ease of party-switching, Momodu concluded: “But today, people cross carpet. You can wake up with APC, and in the evening, you are in the PDP, then the following morning, you are back to APC. It’s just unfortunate.”