ColumnsNigeriaOpinionPoliticsLosses and Gains of Saturday’s National Assembly Election

“Traditional political parties, the APC and the PDP, must undergo major reforms if they will remain relevant in years ahead. ” —Ebuka Onyekwelu

The outcome of Saturday’s National Assembly election is no longer news. From the results so far, it is clear that there is a shift. In Anambra State, Labour Party defeated two incumbent senators and picked five of the eleven House of Representatives seat. In Enugu, Labour Party also took two senatorial seats and almost all the House of Representatives seats, such that even the incumbent governor lost his senatorial bid. In Benue, the governor also lost his bid to go to the senate.

In Abia state, it was not different as the governor and the former governor were stopped from advancing their senatorial ambitions. Even in Lagos, a far less known Labour candidate defeated a well known candidate of the PDP. Then again in Anambra, Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah was returned and this time, he is returning to National Assembly with his party YPP, wining a House of Representatives seat. Perhaps, the CBN policy directive that led to cash crisis might have played some role in the disruption; it is not clear because there were different forms of voter inducements. Yet, remarkable political displacements were recorded.

So far, the results have cleared all doubts that votes do count. If a sitting governor can lose his state, the President also lost his state, the DG of APC’s Presidential campaign lost his state. Sitting senators lost their bids to return. Governors lost their bids to go to senate and many other powerful Nigerians were so humbled, it can only mean that the people’s votes counted. This is the first time in the history of Nigeria’s democracy that many established political elites were swept off not by a coup, but through the ballot. Therefore, for the Nigerian people, it is a boost that must guide them towards intensifying their participation in the process. Nigerians must now go beyond only voting in an election, to extending their stake in the polity.

For the traditional political parties, the APC and the PDP, they must undergo major reforms if they will remain relevant in the coming years ahead. This is significant because, in Anambra alone, for the first time since 1999, the PDP failed to win any position. Not even one. The fact that LP, and YPP can compete favourably against APGA and PDP is a clear message that going forward, no political party can lay claims to its ticket being a straight road to victory at the poll. The gain here is that major political parties must reform or extinct. This reform might be the biggest breakthrough for Nigeria’s pricey democracy. The problem has always been Nigeria’s political parties and the highly monetized processes of getting a viable party’s ticket for any elective position. If people can use the ticket of a party they paid little or nothing to get, and contest and win an election, why would they be constrained to expend humongous amounts seeking to get major political party’s ticket? Part of the gains of this, in especially places that experienced these major disruptions, is that political parties will prioritize quality candidates over people with higher spending capacity. In turn, this will ensure that the right kind of people is voted into public office and with attendant benefits to the system and the people.

Established politicians who were not able to be returned to the National Assembly must now transform their losses into gains for the people and for the society, by not finding ways to scuttle election results. Instead, they can find a way to reenter the new mainstream political leadership, by reforming their standing with the people and contributing towards to growth and well being of their society.

After all said and done, the reality is that it is still a long journey and this is just but a start that must be built upon, for greater gains in the years ahead.

 

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)
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