Columnists: Nigeria’s Tug-of-War: Party or Nation?
On ‘Erraticality‘ with Da-Silva .O. Johnson.
TEC News ! 24th August, 2025.
In every democracy, loyalty is expected. But the fundamental question is: loyalty to what? In theory, the answer should be the Constitution and the nation. In practice, Nigerian politics has turned the answer upside down: it is often party first, nation later. This tilt, repeated across election cycles and state boundaries, has transformed democracy from a mechanism for national progress into a game of survival—where politicians scramble for seats, voters cheer their jerseys, and the common good is left unattended.
Party First Politics: The Nigerian Pattern
From 1999 till date, we have seen a recurring theme: when national interest clashes with party interest, the party often wins. Defections—popularly called “cross-carpeting”—are the clearest example. Legislators and governors routinely abandon the platforms that brought them to power, not because they suddenly discover new ideas or philosophies, but because the new camp promises greater personal or political advantage.
Take the events of 2013–14. Dozens of lawmakers in the PDP crossed over to the then-emerging APC, shaking the balance of power in the National Assembly. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, joined the wave. What followed was not governance, but chaos: security was withdrawn from the Speaker, legislative sessions became battlefields, and policymaking took the back seat.
More recently, the Ebonyi and Rivers state episodes showed how deeply party survival trumps governance. Governors and legislators shifted parties, court cases dragged on endlessly, and development projects stalled while political actors fought over legitimacy. Ordinary citizens were left stranded, forced to watch governance turn into courtroom drama.
Constitutional Loopholes and Legal Cover
The Nigerian Constitution attempted to discipline this excess—at least for lawmakers. It states that a legislator loses their seat if they defect to another party, except where there is a “division” in their party. That single word—“division”—has become the biggest loophole in Nigerian politics. Every defection is justified on the grounds of one crisis or another, no matter how flimsy.
Governors and their deputies face no such restriction at all. Once elected, they can switch parties without consequence. In 2022, a Federal High Court tried to unseat Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi for leaving the PDP for the APC, but the Court of Appeal quickly reversed the decision, stressing that the Constitution provided no penalty for governors who defect. The message was clear: executives are free to switch platforms, even if the voters who elected them feel betrayed.
This legal asymmetry rewards opportunism. Lawmakers exploit the “division” clause. Governors are untouchable. The result is a political culture where party loyalty is negotiable, but constitutional loyalty is optional.
The Followers Are Not Innocent
It is easy to cast blame solely on politicians, but followers also fall into the trap of party-first politics. Nigerians often defend their parties blindly, even when governance is visibly poor.
Why? First, ideology is almost absent in Nigerian parties. Unlike in older democracies where “left” and “right” mean something, our parties are distinguished more by personalities and networks than by policies. This hollowness makes it easy for politicians to move freely and for voters to excuse the moves as normal.
Second, ethnicity and region play a powerful role. Voters often see parties as vehicles for group representation rather than policy. Supporting “our party” becomes synonymous with defending “our people,” regardless of national outcomes.
Third, distrust in institutions fuels partisanship. Many Nigerians believe electoral umpires, courts, and agencies are biased. In such an environment, party loyalty becomes the safest refuge, even when it contradicts the broader national interest.
When National Loyalty Prevailed
Despite the dominance of party-first politics, there have been moments where loyalty to the nation rose above partisanship.
In 2010, during President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s prolonged illness, the country was sliding into paralysis. The National Assembly, after weeks of uncertainty, invoked the “Doctrine of Necessity” to empower Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President. It was a bold step that ensured continuity, stability, and national survival. That act was not about PDP supremacy—it was about Nigeria’s stability.
In 2015, when Jonathan lost the presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari, he conceded even before the final tally was announced. Against the advice of hardliners, he chose peace over political brinkmanship. His call to Buhari defused a tense situation and ensured Nigeria’s first opposition victory at the federal level happened without bloodshed. That was national loyalty in action.
These moments prove that Nigerian leaders are capable of putting country first when history demands it. The question is: why should it take a crisis before national interest prevails?
The Costs of Party-First Politics
The price of misplaced loyalty is high, and ordinary Nigerians pay it.
Policy Whiplash: Constant defections shift legislative coalitions, alter budget priorities, and disrupt continuity in governance. Policies are abandoned midway, replaced by projects that serve new political alignments rather than the people.
Governance by Litigation: Courts are dragged into settling political quarrels that should have been resolved by party structures or electoral laws. Judges become referees in partisan battles, slowing down governance and eroding judicial neutrality.
Civic Fatigue: Citizens grow weary and cynical. When people believe elections are merely elite contests, they disengage, fueling voter apathy and weakening democracy itself.
Rethinking Loyalty
If democracy is to serve Nigeria, loyalty must be reordered: Constitution → Country → Constituents → Party → Self. Party loyalty is not inherently bad—it becomes dangerous when it eclipses constitutional duty and national survival.
To achieve this, reforms are needed.
1. Close Defection Loopholes: Amend the Constitution to remove the vague “division” clause and extend anti-defection provisions to executives. This would reduce opportunistic party hopping.
2. Strengthen Internal Party Democracy: Without transparent primaries and internal fairness, “party supremacy” simply means “faction supremacy.”
3. Consider Independent Candidacy: A regulated path for independent candidates would give principled politicians an option outside the party machinery.
4. Promote Cross-Party Cooperation: Caucuses in the legislature should focus on national issues like education, security, and health, building consensus across party lines.
5. Civic Responsibility: Voters must reward leaders who put country first and penalize those who treat governance as a party game.
Final Word
Democracy was never meant to be a tug-of-war between politicians and their parties; it was meant to be a system of service to the nation. When loyalty to party trumps loyalty to the republic, Nigeria loses. When leaders and followers alike insist on putting the Constitution and the country above faction and self, democracy matures.
The next time a politician defects, or a party cries “supremacy,” Nigerians must ask one question: Who benefits—Nigeria, or the party?
Our future depends on the answer.
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