the night after, By Dakuku Peterside

Two schools of thought compete for space on the issue of democratic consensus – those for it and those against it. Those against consensus argue that the democratic process is full of conflicts and competitions to decide whose ideas or views of how and who governs society triumph. Furthermore, they argue that the right thing is to allow all persons and ideas to compete freely. If there is a need for reconciliation, it should be after the people have made their choices. They also posit that consensus closes or restricts the democratic space for those who are not insiders.
Those who support consensus believe it is the best way to preserve party unity in a fragile democratic system, where a democratic culture has not yet taken root. In the specific case of APC, the president needed to intervene for party cohesion and to forestall implosion. Those who are conversant with recent happenings in the party believe it was on the path of self-destruction.
Each school of thought on democratic consensus has its pros and cons. However, mature democracies hardly rely on democratic consensus, and they have developed mechanisms to deal with democratic conflicts that emanate from a diversity of opinion, interests, and aspirations of members of a party or people in general. However, the current state of APC favours consensus. APC is in bad shape, and the contention for the presidential ticket is taking a toll on the party’s health. This convention came too close to the primaries preceding a general election.
As such, we hope that as democracy deepens in Nigeria (although some may argue that democratic consensus hinders the progress to maturity), consensus – be it in the form of unity lists, political zoning, or federal character principles, will reduce drastically, if not completely eradicated. They will only exist if we have adopted them now as part of our bespoke democracy that caters to our unique political circumstances and needs.
One factor that drove the APC party’s decision to adopt a Unity List is the fear of the judiciary and the impact of the panoply of litigations and counter-litigations, that ensue as the aftermath of conflicts, on the party. The judiciary is beginning to play a significant role in the internal affairs of Nigeria’s political parties. Is this good or bad for democracy?

… conventions should be times for reflection and critical analysis of what a party and the government it created have done to improve people’s lives and democracy. I must note that there was no discussion about the situation in the country, the ideological underpinnings and policy direction of the party or how to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians. Nobody talked about rising poverty in the land, the perennial ASUU strikes, inflation, insecurity, unemployment, and the many issues plaguing Nigerians, and the party stand on how to solve the problems.
Suffice it to say that the judiciary is the last hope of the ordinary person to seek redress and compensation when wronged. However, the judiciary is being weaponised to drag the party down or undermine its unity. The fear was that if there was no unity list and there were open competitions and election of candidates to various posts in the party, the losers may seek recourse in the judicial process for redress. Moreover, by so doing, this may cause distraction and tension just a few months to an all-important general election that the ruling party is planning to win. The work needed now to achieve a landslide victory for the party is enormous, and distractions from fights or conflicts arising from party elections would undermine this.
Besides, all APC key actors agree that the stability of the ruling party is critical for the advancement of democracy in Nigeria, even if their actions do not portray that they know this. What is driving all key actors is the desire to position themselves in order to realise their political ambitions. This is even more evident in the intractable “factionalisation” existing in most state party structures. These factions spill over to the national convention and cause disharmony and the lack of cohesion. Little wonder that proponents of democratic consensus felt that was the only way forward to avoid mayhem.

The convention was a success in some ways and had areas for improvement. The most important success is that it has voted in the “de jury” party chairperson and a national working committee (NWC) to pilot the party’s affairs before and during the general election in 2023. About 46 NWC positions were contested and filled, including 21 NWC and 45 non-NWC positions. Given the drama of party disunity prior to the convention, now APC is better positioned to focus on the forthcoming election.
However, I noticed that the convention was “game as usual”. The convention’s rhetoric and narrative toed the same line as it did in the past and it even mirrored the PDP convention. As was the case with the PDP, much focus was placed on platitudes and niceties about the party’s progress, government, and areas they have done well in throughout the APC convention. Speech after speech poured encomiums on President Buhari, and everyone seemed to be “patting everyone else on the back” for jobs well done so far. It is essential to state that the speeches of Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo were outstanding and profound.
However, conventions should be times for reflection and critical analysis of what a party and the government it created have done to improve people’s lives and democracy. I must note that there was no discussion about the situation in the country, the ideological underpinnings and policy direction of the party or how to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians. Nobody talked about rising poverty in the land, the perennial ASUU strikes, inflation, insecurity, unemployment, and the many issues plaguing Nigerians, and the party stand on how to solve the problems.
APC must ideologically and philosophically differentiate itself from other parties and be very clear about what it stands for, what it believes in and what it is “selling to the people” – its value proposition. This past convention was a missed opportunity to deepen the core values of APC and instruct members on the need for the unity of the “broom”.
In the final analysis, the intractable APC convention of 2022 has come and gone. We have elected (selected) our party leaders primarily through democratic consensus. We do not yet know the effect of this on our democracy, and we cannot predict the impacts accurately for now. Democratic consensus may either be an ingenious system that saved the APC from imploding or a knee jerk reaction that closed the political space and killed the democratic principle of the power of party members to choose their leaders in competitive party elections, without interference from any quarter. Only the future will tell, and political analysts and pundits will look back at this convention and pontificate on its impact on democracy in APC and Nigeria in general. Henceforth, Nigerians look forward to a peaceful APC that will focus more on the incoming general elections than on political dramas within it as the ruling party.
Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.

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