- The price of opportunism is political oblivion
By Emmanuel Ukudolo l Friday, May 21.26
LAGOS, Nigeria – The primary elections of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have once again served as a masterclass in the ruthless mechanics of Nigerian party politics.
Having abandoned the platform that gave them political life to seek green pastures in the ruling party, these politicians have found themselves stranded—denied tickets, stripped of their assumed leverage, and thoroughly humbled by the APC machinery
For a handful of federal and state lawmakers who rose to prominence on the crest of the Labour Party’s (LP) historic wave, the primaries have delivered a sobering, if predictable, reality check.
Among them are Donatus Mathew, former commercial motorcycle rider popularly known as the “okada rider”, whose dramatic rise from the streets of Kaduna to the green chamber captured national attention, was elected in 2023 on the platform of the Labour Party to represent Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna State before later defecting to the APC.
However, he has now emerged among lawmakers not returning after losing the APC party primaries.
Others are Hon. Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency, Edo)Hon. Tochukwu Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West, Imo)Hon. Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani, Cross River), Hon. Daulyop Fom (Jos South/Jos East)and Senator Neda Imasuen, Edo South,
Having abandoned the platform that gave them political life to seek green pastures in the ruling party, these politicians have found themselves stranded—denied tickets, stripped of their assumed leverage, and thoroughly humbled by the APC machinery.
To understand the weight of this political tragedy, one must revisit the genesis of their mandates. The 2023 general elections, and subsequent off-cycle polls, rewrote Nigeria’s democratic playbook.
The “Obidient” movement and an organic yearning for alternative governance transformed the Labour Party from a fringe ideological platform into a formidable legislative force.
Seemingly overnight, political underdogs defeated entrenched godfathers. These lawmakers did not win because they possessed superior financial firepower or deeper local structures; they won because the electorate desperately wanted a break from the status quo swayed by the overwhelming acceptability of their leader, Mr. Peter Obi, who came third during the Presidential election even when his votes were stollen across the nation.
However, no sooner had the seats grown warm than the familiar itch of political opportunism took over. Citing “internal crises” or the classic, threadbare excuse of “attracting federal development to their constituencies,” several of these lawmakers cross-carpeted to the APC. They miscalculated badly.
They mistook the temporary ownership of a legislative seat for absolute personal popularity. They erroneously believed that the ruling party would simply hand them return tickets on a silver platter in exchange for their defection.
The APC primaries have violently shattered that illusion. In constituency after constituency, these defectors have been soundly beaten by deeply entrenched party loyalists.
The reasons for their Waterloo are not far-fetched. In the complex ecology of the APC, loyalty is a currency that must be earned over years of service, financial mobilization, and structural fidelity.
A defector, no matter how highly placed, is structurally viewed as an ideological mercenary—an opportunistic stranger arriving at harvest time to displace party faithful who tilled the ground through lean opposition years.
When the ballots were counted during the primary exercises over the weekend, the APC party delegates sent an unmistakable message: you can join the house, but you cannot inherit the master bedroom ahead of the children of the house.
Beyond the immediate heartbreak of these politicians lies a broader, more systemic lesson for Nigerian democracy. Political nomadism—or cross-carpeting—cheapens the essence of representative governance.
When citizens queue for hours to vote for a specific party logo, they are voting for an identity, a platform, and a promise. Jumping ship mid-stream to join the ruling party is a profound betrayal of that collective trust.
The systematic failure of these defectors to secure APC nominations should be celebrated as a form of cosmic, democratic justice. It signals to the political class that actions have consequences and that a stolen mandate carries an expiration date.
Now, these politicians find themselves in a precarious political wilderness. Having burned their bridges with the Labour Party and its passionate base, and having been rejected by the APC structure, their political futures hang by a thread.
They are left with neither a platform nor the populist goodwill that elevated them in the first place.
As the dust settles on the APC primaries, serving politicians must look at the fate of these defectors and learn.
The ruling party may open its doors wide to receive defectors for numerical and psychological dominance, but its internal reward system will always prioritize its own.
For the political nomads who thought they could bypass the grueling process of party building through shortcuts, the message from the delegates is loud, clear, and unyielding: the price of opportunism is political oblivion.
