ZONING TROUBLE

The leader and founder of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, (OPC), the most unashamedly tribal organization in Nigeria, Dr. Frederick Fasehun is reported to have described the election of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal as a slap to the Yorubas as well as the people of the South West. The leader of the self-proclaimed umbrella organization for the exclusive promotion and protection of Yoruba interests in Nigeria said that the failure of the House of Representatives to return the position of the Speaker to the South West has resulted in not just altering, but in actually destroying Nigeria’s power equation. He described the free and fair election of their leaders, by the elected representatives of the Nigerian people in the House of Representatives, an election which rejected the Presidency’s and PDP leadership’s Yoruba candidate in favor of another from Sokoto State as brazen, and a collective insult to the Yoruba people.

Dr. Frederick Fasehun spoke in true character as a self-proclaimed tribal leader, and one who should have been reminded to celebrate the virtual routing of the PDP in Yorubaland by the reincarnation of the Action Group now masquerading as Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He also spoke on the same day the PDP reportedly signaled its intention to zone the positions of Senate Leader to the North East zone, and House of Representatives Chief Whip to the South  West, although it is debatable whether even this will assuage the anger of the OPC leader. It is in the character of people like Dr. Fasehun to see Nigerian politics in purely tribal terms, and to define Yoruba interest as superior to all other interests. Nor would it impress him to be reminded that Yorubaland as a whole produced only three members in the House of Representatives for the PDP, and the members, including many from the PDP who elected their leaders had this in mind when they voted for someone else from a zone where the Party made a stronger outing. In any case, the quarrel of the leader of the OPC would appear to be less with the PDP leadership and the Presidency, which together put up an intimidating show of force to get a Yoruba Member elected, and more with the 256 Members of the House of Representatives who felt that the PDP’s zoning arrangement should be sacrificed for the integrity and credibility of the legislative arm of government. Many of the 256 Members who voted against  a Yoruba candidate and in favor of a Hausa candidate are Yoruba whose Party, the ACN, chose to part ways with the PDP on this instance. Perhaps Dr Fasehun is saving some choice invectives for these members in the House for future.

Dr. Fasehun’s outburst represents one more evidence that the PDP’s zoning principles and policies have lost their potency, and indeed, could quite possibly point to an increasing failure of the Party’s leadership to call the shots. The breach which started with the dispute around the legality or propriety of the rotation and zoning provisions of the PDP when President Jonathan was contesting for the PDP’s ticket appears to have developed into a major credibility problem for the Party. The election of Speaker Tambuwal by a House which has 250 PDP Members out of 360 is clear evidence that many members of the PDP are not impressed by the demands of their leaders that they must toe the line on zoning. The reported apology of Speaker Tambuwal to his Party leadership over his victory is a laughable charade. If the Right Honorable Gentleman Speaker is truly contrite and remorseful over his defiance of his Party to contest and win the position of Speaker, Nigerians would expect him to purge himself of the contempt by resigning. Similarly, his Party’s reported generous forgiveness of the Speaker and his Deputy is not going to fool anyone. The facts on the ground is that the House of Representatives have a Speaker and Deputy Speaker who emerged in spite of the vigorous opposition of their Party, and have deepened the dent on the credibility of the leadership. The Party itself has lost face, lost a major pillar upon which it hopes to build a survival strategy, and lost a battle as a result of the concerted efforts of the opposition and some of its members to reduce its space in Nigerian’s politics.

So if Dr. Fasehun feels aggrieved over the failure of PDP’s zoning arrangement to deliver as he wanted, he has to join a long line of the aggrieved. He has to queue behind the PDP leadership which campaigned against a candidate from a zone which stood by it, in favor of a candidate from a zone that turned its back on the Party. He will have to stand behind many party loyalists who feel that their Party’s rules apply only when they suit the interest of their leaders. And he has join those Nigerians who feel that the zoning Policy of the Party has promised more than it has delivered.

  The imperatives and provisions of sharing power in a plural and complex nation such as Nigeria are enshrined in the Constitution, and represent the only certain guarantee for survival of the nation. In virtually every social or political arrangement Nigerians are involved in, it comes into play as the basic rule. It may be time for the PDP to revisit its own arrangement for power sharing, and this time, accord it the power it deserves as binding agreement on every member. This way, people like Speaker Tambuwal and Dr. Fasehun will not remind Nigerians that tribes are our only defining values.