Google described cross-carpeting as a major Nigerian problem which refers to the attitude of politicians to instantly switch allegiance between political parties, often after being elected under a different party’s banner. This attitude is also sometimes called “party hopping,” “party switching,” “defection” or “floor crossing.”
The practice is common among elected Nigerian politicians, who change allegiances for various reasons, including seeking better opportunities for personal gain or the desire to align with a more powerful party to remain relevant in state or national politics.
Many political parties suffered devastating blows through the loss of their elected members to other stronger parties especially the ruling All Progressives Congress at the state and national assemblies. The trend of defections became more pronounced as the nation inched closer towards the 2027 general elections and people are now clamouring for stiffer penalties against decamping to increase stability of political party system and create a more stable growth for democracy in the country.
The Young Progressives Party (YPP) was one of the political parties which lost many elected, serving members in the Senate, House of Assemblies and the House of Representatives to stronger parties. In this interview conducted by Cyril Mbah in Abuja, the National Chairman of the YPP, Comrade Emmanuel Amakiri strongly advocated, like many concerned political chieftains, that the provisions of the 1999 constitution which makes it very easy for politicians to dump the parties that brought them to limelight for a ruling party should be thoroughly amended to create stability in political parties and encourage the healthy growth of the wobbly democratic system in Nigeria. Excerpts.
Comrade sir, we want to start the interview by asking whether the YPP is part of the coalition group seeking to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress from office and what do you think about this Herculean project?
Honestly, I do not usually want to discuss the so-called coalition project because of the personalities involved and the fact that they lack any form of ideology or positive direction.
Good coalitions should be driven by sound political party ideology and not just by some personalities or individuals or the financial resources attached to each person. For me, there is no coalition now until we see a sincere group of persons with honest intentions.
Individualism is not the proper concept upon which organisations are formed. Individualism should come into play only when they align with the sound ideology of organisations and not the way it is with the current coalition group in the country. However, this does not mean that we do not believe in a group of people coming together to drive a sincere cause, a good objective or a purposeful agenda.
Last weekend’s bye-election in several states gave parties another opportunity to test their strength, what strategies did the YPP, which participated use in the elections in your stronghold areas?
We had participants across the states but we focused our energy more on our stronghold which is Anambra South Senatorial District from where we had won elections two times, back to back, and produced a Senator (late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah), two House of Representatives and three State Assembly members.
What is your party doing to ensure that your candidates and members do not decamp to another party like late Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah and others did after winning election on your platform?
Parties do not have what it takes or the powers to stop people from leaving when they want. No party, including the PDP and the APC, has the power to stop its members from leaving whenever anyone wishes to do so. The 1999 constitution as amended, in sections 40 that talks about freedom of association and participation, gives people the right to move or change parties.
There is however a lacuna where the belt has not been tightened in the constitution. Politicians will always exploit that provision, where it is stated that having a crisis in a party stands as a valid reason, whenever it suits them. Some have even been known to instigate the crisis and create divisions just to have a reason to leave a party. The National Assembly should look into that area to see what can be done to remove vexatious provisions of the constitution that do not help the nation’s democracy.
Do you think that the latest attempt to amend the constitution will work bearing in mind that several efforts have been made in the past but those efforts failed to produce tangible results?
There is a difference between trying to amend the constitution and showing sincerity of purpose in really doing the right things. The National Assembly knows what to do for the constitution to work properly. They should stop playing pranks with the intelligence of the people and do the right things. I sincerely do not see why someone should win an election in one party and leave the party to another platform and still retain the seat he won with the party he abandoned. It’s simply madness. There are many sections of the constitution that requires amendments but those charged with doing the needful will not listen to the people who have genuine suggestions.
The constitution reform committee should look into this attitude of politicians, especially the elected ones, who jump ship anytime it suits them. People who are not elected and are not holding public office are free to leave whenever it suits them but the laws should the reviewed so that those elected must leave the positions held for others to contest and occupy, whenever they are leaving.
Let me tell you this for the records, a lot of impunity is going on in the political space in the country. Within political parties, a lot of impunity and injustice have been metted out on the people. This is why the mass movement from one party to another is taking place in the country. For example, I am the founding father and National Chairman of the Young Progressives Party (YPP). Tomorrow, another person can come into the party and try to deny me the right to stand for an election if I choose to contest and while denying me the right, he will bring someone else who does not know anything about the party to take my place just because that person has more money than me. This exactly is what drives people away to join other political parties. I think that the provisions of the constitution which says one can leave a party when there is a crisis should be expunged entirely because people are taking undue advantage of the section. If an elected member wants to leave a party, he/she is free to do so but the seat he/she is occupying should be instantly declared vacant and the political party that won the election should be allowed to nominate someone else to complete the tenure before another election.
Secondly, the provisions which allows the president to nominate the INEC chairman should be expunged. The position of INEC chairman should be made an elective one and the position should be advertised for people to contest. INEC chairmanship should be subject to election. We cannot have true democracy when a sitting President continues to nominate the person who will be the umpire of elections where the president will be a participant. In such a situation as we have today, it is not possible for the INEC chairman to be appointed by the president and the president will lose an election.
How do you hope to leverage on the huge population of youths in the country to increase your membership before the 2027 general elections YPP being a youth based party which believes in the Not-Too-Young-To-Run law?
The old generation of politicians have already captured the country and are holding everyone to ransome. We heard recently that the former Sokoto State Governor (Sen. Aminu Tambuwal) has been arrested and detained. These people know that they cannot win election without recourse to the apparatus of government both in human, state funds and resources. The YPP was provided as an alternative platform but the constraints have always been that it was a deliberate thing that people have been plunged into abject poverty and the only solution now is to dismantle the structure and replace it with a better alternative.
The only way to dismantle the structure is for young people of elective age to come out enmass and voters should also come out in their numbers and reject financial inducements from the old generation of politicians in the next elections. This is the only way we can make a headway in the country.
