PACT and foibles of youthful naivety, intolerance

Nigerian youths who have been visible, conscious and vocal in the push for paradigm shift in leadership recruitment now appear to be taking the back seat. Not even the signing into law of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill has done much as the two major political parties-PDP and APC have scared them away with prohibitive cost of nomination forms.

Like never before, there is an array of youthful presidential aspirants ahead of 2019 polls. It was expected that the youthful presidential aspirants would avoid the pitfalls that dogged the old politicians by coming together to choose a consensus candidate and form a formidable opposition to wrest power from recycled politicians.

Not even the sponsor of Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill, Hon. Tony Nwulu, who represents Oshodi/ Isolo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been able to serve as a rallying point for the youths to actualise their dream of producing a youthful president in 2019.

Nwulu, as many may not know has defected to United Peoples Party (UPP) on which platform he is contesting Imo governorship election. This is one time many young aspirants who wanted to run for presidency cannot afford to buy nomination forms of two major parties. It was to mitigate these concerns that 18 presidential aspirants came together in Lagos on July 31 and resolved to form a strong coalition and support a consensus candidate for the 2019 presidential election.

Identified as Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT), the aspirants made up of political greenhorns agreed to work together and liberate Nigeria from politicians who have held the country down for years.The aspirants involved were Fela Durotoye, Kingsley Moghalu, Yele Sowore, Thomas-Wilson Ikubese, Ahmed Buhari, Tope Fasua, and Sina Fagbenro-Byron.

Others are Eragbe Anslem, Jaye Gaskia, Mathias Tsado, Victor Ani-Laju, Alistair Soyode, Godstime Sidney Iroabuchi, Clement Jimbo, Elishama Ideh, Ayodele Favor Oluwamuyiwa, Dare Fagbemi and Felix Nicholas.It was disclosed that when the initial meeting took place in July, publisher of Sahara Reporters and one of the presidential hopefuls, Omoyele Sowore, hadn’t got a political party to launch his ambition. Two weeks later, African Action Congress (ACC), which had Sowore’s backing was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Even though it was unclear when Sowore pulled out of PACT, his Take-It-Back movement betrayed the fact that he was not totally committed to the agreement of the PACT. Sowore’s Take-It-Back movement alleged that some prominent aspirants involved in PACT are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had already formed a Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) with 38 other parties to achieve the same aim as PACT.

“We note that several of the members of PACT belong to CUPP or are members of the PDP. As a movement, we cannot commit to a process that would require that our movement should support ANY candidate with direct or indirect ties to the PDP.” Take-It-Back movement also disclosed that its suggestion to PACT coalition to allow the people to participate in the selection of a consensus candidate, instead of a handful of aspirants, was rejected.

The movement also expressed reservations about the fact that a potential consensus candidate needed to have a formidable level of support, structure and organisation that is lacking in some of PACT’s participants. Sowore’s movement noted that it started forming a different coalition with several other parties that match its vision for the country.

Despite all these, on August 30, which was the day PACT was scheduled to elect its consensus candidate, it was revealed that a total of five aspirants, including Sowore, had dropped out, leaving 13 other aspirants to contest. Before voting commenced on election day, two aspirants, Ahmed Buhari of the PDP and Awwal Aliyu Abdullahi, pulled out of the alliance, leaving only 11.

The aspirants that were left were Moghalu, Ikubese, Durotoye, Fagbemi, Tsado, Oluwamuyiwa, Ani-Laju, Iroabuchi, Jimbo, Ideh and Nicholas.In the first stage of voting, each aspirant was allowed to vote for any of the other 10 aspirants and Durotoye, Moghalu and Tsado were tied on two votes each, while five others ended up with one vote each. Only Ani-Laju, Fagbemi, and Jimbo ended the first round with zero votes.

As agreed by PACT’s aspirants, Durotoye, Moghalu and Tsado, with the highest votes, proceeded to the second and final voting stage with the three aspirants excused from voting.This left only eight aspirants to vote in the final stage until Nicholas also quietly left the state, according to official observer and former minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili.

When the remaining seven aspirants voted, Durotoye won four votes while Moghalu had three, and Tsado ended up with no votes. According to Ezekwesili, the aspirants all hugged after the results were announced.Despite that display of sportsmanship, Durotoye’s victory was to later divide the coalition, with other aspirants still eager to pursue their ambition on different political platforms. While Durotoye is seeking to emerge the presidential candidate of ANN, Moghalu has emerged the consensus presidential candidate of YPP. Sowore on the other hand will emerge the presidential candidate Africa Action Congress (ACC)

Offering an explanation to The Guardian on the crisis that rocked the PACT, the presidential candidate of Young Progressive Party (YPP) Prof. Moghalu said that PACT was a missed opportunity by Nigerian youths.He said: “Its purpose of producing a strong consensus candidate that would be perceived by the broad electorate as credible was subverted and the group was simply used to pursue the personal agenda of a small clique within the group.  I left the group on grounds of principles because the process that produced its outcomes was deeply flawed.

“The group had practically collapsed, especially towards the end as more and more participants pulled out. It became clear to me at the end that I could not allow my credibility to be used to advance hidden agendas. So I triggered the exit clause in the memorandum of understanding. That was the right thing to do, although I know that some persons who have far less information than I have at my disposal, or others with vested interests, would want to misrepresent my decisive action. 

“The fact that out of respect for our youth and members of the group I participated until the voting period does not legitimise a fundamentally flawed process. After all, do people who participate in real elections not reserve the right to reject the results and go to court if they feel the electoral process was flawed or compromised?“My decision has been vindicated by the recent admission by some drivers of the group that they made serious mistakes. They realised that they have hit a brick wall, and would like to start afresh. Some others who participated until the end of the process have also revived their campaigns.”

In his own view, a 40-year-old APC senatorial aspirant in Lagos, Mr Adeolu Adelekan told The Guardian that the failure of the youthful presidential aspirants to come together, elect a consensus presidential candidate without rancour has exposed their political naivety and intolerance.“Even though it has not been easy seeking to contest election on the APC platform, I have learnt a lot of things being a member of the party. This is despite the fact that the cost of their nomination forms is too expensive for me. Some of these youthful presidential aspirants thought that politics in Nigeria is about activism and social media ranting.

“It goes beyond it. Is it not shameful and disappointing that these youths cannot agree on who represents them as candidates in elections? With this, where will these youths derive the moral authority to criticise the recycled politicians? The old politicians appear to have better knowledge of rudiments of politics than these youthful aspirants that are grandstanding. It is quite disheartening that Nigerian youths have failed to learn,” Adelekan said.

When asked why he did not defect to another party to actualise his ambition, Adelekan said: “While it is true there are 91 political parties in Nigeria today, only two or three have strong presence across the country. Others are more of briefcase parties with no structure anywhere. Instead of trying to contest election on the platforms of these obscure parties, Nigerian youths should join the major parties and struggle for power with old politicians. That is the only way they can make impact or dislodge the old politicians. Majority of the voters know PDP and APC.”

But to a Social Democratic Party governorship aspirant in Edo State, Mr Victor Igbonai said: “What is affecting Nigerian youths in politics is lack of direction and unity. Most times, they talk more and do little. They don’t support one another politically. They prefer already-made politicians that can offer them peanuts in name of money and use them to achieve their selfish interests. Unless the youths come together to work patriotically and altruistically to rescue Nigeria, the recycled politicians will continue to lord it over them politically.Perhaps, they will use 2019 to learn that politics in the larger society is not the same as campus politics. They have to learn to work together and bury their individual egos.