Politics Without Principles: The Dangerous Normalisation Of Defections
Defections and the Death of Ideology
THE wave of defections sweeping through Nigeria’s political landscape is symptomatic of a deeper crisis—one where ideology has collapsed under the weight of convenience. As politicians flood into the ruling APC ahead of 2027, democracy itself appears increasingly transactional.
Politics has become less about governance and more about positioning.
A Weak Constitution Meets Strong Interests
Nigeria’s constitutional framework, while attempting to discourage defections, has failed to adapt to political reality. The absence of sanctions for executive defections has allowed governors to dismantle opposition parties state by state, often overnight.
Voters, meanwhile, have no remedy when their mandates are transferred without consent.
From Historical Precedent to Present Danger
Defections have always existed, but never at today’s scale. What once required ideological justification is now openly transactional. The Fourth Republic has normalised political migration as strategy, not exception.
The result is a political system where loyalty is fluid and accountability elusive.
Central Power and Political Survival
Nigeria’s over-centralised system ensures that political relevance flows from the centre. Governors, lawmakers, and party leaders gravitate toward federal power not because of belief, but because of necessity.
This reality has transformed defections from moral failures into calculated moves.
One-Party State: Myth or Momentum?
While APC leaders deny any plan to impose a one-party system, opposition figures argue that outcomes matter more than intentions. When opposition structures collapse en masse, the effect mirrors one-party dominance, even without formal declaration.
Warnings from elder statesmen highlight the dangers of arriving at such a system through coercion rather than consensus.
The Illusion of Choice
A democracy where alternatives exist only on paper is democracy in name alone. Without strong opposition, electoral competition weakens, governance suffers, and dissent becomes risky.
Nigeria risks creating a political cathedral—large, powerful, and impressive—but built on fragile democratic foundations.
The Choice Ahead
Nigeria stands at a defining moment. The question is not whether politicians are free to defect, but whether democracy can survive a system where power attracts everything and principles repel nothing.
History will judge whether today’s defections strengthened national unity—or quietly dismantled democratic pluralism.
