2019 Election: Gale Of Defections Exposing Selfish Politicians, Says Lawyer

Mr Wale Ogunade, a constitutional lawyer and president, Voters Awareness Initiative, said on Monday that the gale of defections in the nation’s polity was exposing selfish politicians.

Ogunade told NIGERIA NEWS in Lagos that many of the defections were about personal interests and not in the interest of the masses who elected them.

He, however, noted that such defections were good for the nation’s polity and would strengthen democracy.

According to him, these defections will help Nigerians make informed decisions at the 2019 general elections as they can separate the wheat from the chaff.

“The gale of defections demonstrated that these politicians are not ready to work for the interest of Nigerians.

“How can somebody just decide and say he does not think he has interest in a particular party, without even consulting with the electorate who elected him.

“These are aggrieved politicians who have not done well in terms of living up to their mandates as elected official and since elections are around the corner, they are jumping from one party to another to find relevance.

“They are also defecting because their plans to reorder the election timetable did not scale through and it is unfortunate that it is not in the interest of the people but for their own selfish reasons.

“The good thing is that these politicians are indirectly exposing their true personalities and Nigerians are taking note,’’ he said.

Ogunade said Nigerians had become wiser with more interest in politics and would make informed decisions before voting during the 2019 general elections.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is no more 2015 when people were led by the nose. Obviously, 2019 elections is going to be totally different.

“Many people, especially the youth are becoming more aware and are coming out en masse to collect their PVCs for their own benefit and to deal with self-interest politicians.

“This will in turn strengthen good governance and democracy because after the elections, politicians will learn their lessons that never again should they defect on personal interest.

“’You can only defect when you know you have done something that is in the interest and favour of the people,’’ Ogunade said.