Date: 2015-06-26

During the race to the 2015 elections,I observed with keen interest the merger of political parties that formed the party;APC, many have forgotten the party was a combination of different political parties with diverse interest to oust Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan ( the most performing president in history) out of office.

On the road towards the merger the following political parties participated actively; ACN led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, CPC led by the current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, ANPP led by the National Chairman Ogbonnaya Onu, a faction of APGA led by Rochas Okorocha while the new PDP led by those that are not in support of Goodluck Jonathan aspiration for second term in office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

While other political parties in the merger where led by leaders who dictated and members who complied without objecting their views, the new PDP does not possess such leaders because the PDP is a party where everyone is equal. It is a party for all not a sole proprietorship which a man claims to own and fund.

In my early days in life, I was told Lagos was the mini Nigeria, maybe that was the view of the Asiwaju of Lagos in thinking that if he could control the political arena of the centre of excellence definitely he should be able to dictate the pace for the politics of Nigeria. To the surprise of Nigerians, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Peoples Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed told the world that President Mohammed Buhari was not the leader of their party but a product of the party. I am forced to ask, is he the by- product of the party? Well, let that be a topic for another political day.

Prior to the general elections, I was informed according to genuine sources from the APC media team that any individual flying the ticket of their party is as sound as others, they assured Nigerians of presenting competent candidates even though such candidate crossed the carpet weeks to the election, they are good as others because the APC is a party for all which is open to all Nigerians. On this effect, Nigerians came out to vote for APC candidates despite the ethnic angle of voting, the APC won at the centre.

After the swearing in of the President, he told Nigerians that "he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody" also assuring them of his readiness to work with individuals across party lines, to the extent that the 'architect' of modern Ekiti State (Oshokomole of Africa), Mr Ayodele Peter Fayose wrote to him on the reason why he should allow him to nominate the minister that would represent the fountain of knowledge at the Federal Executive Council.

Its just amazing and quite surprising to skim through some national dailies, watching the news and listening to public commentators about the leadership tussle at the National Assembly and the one sided display by the leadership of APC that some legislators on their platform were more preferred than others. Instead of the leadership to assess the situation and ensure the voice of the majority in regards to the view of the opposition emerges, they decided to dance 'dorobucci' while few of their members are dancing 'Godwin' with the opposition.

May I ask, what is party supremacy? Did the party support any candidate with resources during 2015 general elections? Would financiers be rewarded after the elections? Even the president was so broke that he had to borrow to pay for his form. After payment, who donated posters? Who paid for those exotic cars? Who paid for chartered helicopters? And so on. It is a complex question for the party leadership to answer, in such situation everyone is entitled to fight for survival from day one of Sai Baba in office. (If na me nko, I must not struggle and allow JJC to enjoy my sweat)

According to Section 50 of Nigeria Constitution,

(1) There shall be:-

(a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and

(b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.

(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office -

(a) if he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives; or

(b) when the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution of that House; or

(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.

After taking a careful look into the constitution,it was clear on the modus operandi needed in electing leaders of the National Assembly, it should be among the members, the role of the party is just advisory.

Politics is all about interest; while some are talking about "party supremacy" others are talking about independence of the National Assembly, no matter the views towards these statements one thing is clear, politicians want to remain relevant. Prior to the race, it was clear Bukola Saraki left the PDP so he could become Senate President come 2015, as fate and politics would have it he was returned by the good people of his constituency, and he was also lucky that his party became the majority. However, instead of keeping a promise to the man who financed the party in the entire PDP dominated north central comprising of Kogi,Benue,Nassarawa,Plateau,Niger and Kwara his home state, the leadership of the party decided to turn the heat against him due to the fear of unknown. It was apparent that they suddenly became wary of his political sagacity and connectivity, funny enough the leadership of the party has forgotten the party was formed by different group.

It will be good if "party supremacy" is bound on party leadership. Alhaji Lai Mohammed who threatened Saraki with expulsion was from defunct ACN, Chief Oyegun who decamped from ANPP to ACN was also from Lai's party, the president was from defunct CPC, Osinbajo was from defunct ACN, from all indications the Secretary to the Federal Government would be from defunct ANPP. What about members of the new PDP? The leadership of APC has forgotten PDP is party for all not "Baba Sope" in which the new PDP members on their platform believes in the equality of all.

One expected the leadership in respecting "party supremacy" to ensure leaders of the two chambers emerge from New PDP and APGA, after being shortchanged in allocation of offices. They decided to play to the gallery by rewarding Senator Lawan as Senate President from defunct ANPP, Senator Akume as Deputy Senate President from defunct ACN, my brother an indigene of Lagos, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker from defunct ACN. For a party to be supreme on members then there must be justice for all.

Even a stranger in the political terrain can attest to the fact that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the leader of the defunct ACN, the noise about "party supremacy" is a ploy to deceive Nigerians that the new leaders in the National Assembly are bad disciples of APC. He thought the party leadership in his disposal can ensure victory for him at the expense of Nigerians.

The President and the National Leader of APC, Muhammadu Buhari has already congratulated the leaders of both chambers. He should follow the path of President and accept them afterall they are members of All Progressive Congress who fought for change to come, someone needs to tell him Nigeria as a nation of 140 million individuals can't be controlled by a single man. If "party supremacy" is a means to enslave us and ensure Nigeria is being controlled from the Bourdillion, it is better to pray for independence of the National Assembly for check and balances to prevail.

Azeez Opeyemi Ahmed, a political analyst, writes in from Lagos