A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has said that Nigeria found herself in its current mess because the leadership of the two major political parties approached issues of the 2023 elections on account of narrow self-interest rather than national interest.
Speaking on Wednesday, he warned that the “dance of shame” and in- fighting among the powerful blocs in the parties “may snowball to something unpredictable if the brake is not applied.”
According to him, the failure to heed his warnings that there was an indication that crude and narrow interests of the various power blocs would determine the outcomes of the primaries, rather than what would be best for the country, may have put the 2023 election in a mess that may further entrap the nation.
Olawepo- Hashim, a former presidential aspirant of the 2023 election and presidential candidate of the Trust Party in the 2019 election, stated this in a statement titled, ‘Crude self-interest, threat to 2023 election’, in Abuja.
He said, “As it is today, each presidential candidate is leading a faction of his party, while a sizable group in the same party is opposed to the flag bearer.
“In the Peoples Democratic Party, it is Atiku vs G-5; in APC, it is Tinubu vs Villa group. There is currently no distinct ideological differentiation in the polity, leaving the country in a real mess”, he said.
Speaking on, he noted that there is reasonable apprehension that the in- fighting amongst the powerful may snowball to something unpredictable if the brake is not applied to the dance of shame by Nigeria’s dominant political elite.
“If elections manage to hold, we can only count on luck that the winner will be responsible enough to form a Government of National Unity and begin to bring the nation together.
“Nigerians must also up their games to ensure that they begin to construct issue driven politics where public good will be at the centre of choices not bribery, narrow self-interest, religious bigotry and ethnic consideration.
This is the only way to avoid the current mess in the next election season,” he suggested.
The PUNCH reported that the former presidential aspirant had on January 1 2022, warned the nation to take more than a passing interest in primaries of the major political parties, as that was where the real decisions about 2023 elections would be made.
He had also said that the indication was that crude and narrow interests of the various power centres would determine the outcomes of primaries rather than what was best for the country.
“The purchase of delegates’ votes like onions and tomatoes, ethnic manipulations and religious bigotry may determine choices rather than the nation’s good”, he had warned.
Olawepo-Hashim, on Wednesday, said despite his earning, the scenario was the process that triumphed as the two major parties and their candidates were not too different in public perception and consideration.
He said, “To prefer anyone against the other will be based on the self-interest of the voter, rather than public welfare. The third major candidate, despite the energy and enthusiasm of a lot of young people invested in his campaign, seems to lack depth in political economy, national security and international relations, to be able to confront the myriad of issues confronting the nation.”
“We are in a mess right now because the leadership, particularly of the two major parties, approached 2023 issues on account of narrow self-interest rather than national interest.
“It was more the case in the ruling party, the APC, where a group of ‘super governors’ shoved the party aside and even the ‘Powerful Villa’ apparatchiks watched helplessly as those governors imposed their will rudely on everyone.
“The way the primaries of the parties were conducted and the way the issues or non-issues were framed is the background to where we are. That is why the parties are not acting cohesively in their campaigns.”
While maintaining that the nation must go to election and choose new leaders, the activist submitted that the “likelihood is that voters who are driven by public good will be looking for candidates that fit their definition of something good not parties.”
“Such people,” he added, “are likely to vote party A for National Assembly seats, B for President, and C for governor if they are enlightened voters, and that is if the election holds at all.”
