Contrary to popular belief, the longest surviving and most powerful political party in Nigeria is not the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which prides itself as Africa’s largest political party. It is the Military Party of Nigeria (MPN), and has membership across class, ethnic and religious divides. They may not engage in open political activity, but it is safe to conclude that no candidate can emerge president of Nigeria without their nod.
However, Nigeria’s experience with the MPN has, on the overall, been more unhelpful than constructive. The first time they rolled out tanks and seized power in 1966, they remained in charge for 13 years until 1979, when General Olusegun Obasanjo grudgingly handed over to an elected government.
When they struck again four years later in 1983, they were to remain in power for 16 years until greed, betrayal, death and circumstances ushered in another elected government – this time no other than the same Obasanjo. While their initial intention might have been patriotic, palace coups and numerous coup attempts suggest that the actions of the military have not always matched their declared intentions.
So when Obasanjo, in 1999, flushed out a generation of military officers, particularly those who had served in various political positions under successive military governments, the move was largely welcomed, though as might be expected, some brilliant military officers had their careers cut short, or were victimized by the sweeping retirements.
If the military learned lessons from their involvement in politics, politicians haven’t; once the appointment of service chiefs is determined not by merit and professionalism, but predicated on geopolitical, ethnic and even religious considerations, the military – willingly or reluctantly – become part of the political equation. It is not a surprise that they now determine when we go to the polls and under what circumstance.
As it were, there are reports of how military officers posted to patrol our creeks and maritime borders have become stupendously rich, and how some of the loot finds its way to the very top of the military hierarchy. There are also reports that the defence and security budget – amounting to about N3bn daily – are used to buy outdated and expired arms at a premium. And because no external audit is allowed into our armory under ‘national security’ claims, no one really knows what is purchased or not by military contractors.
It would be unfair to label the entire military as political. Surely, there must be highly apolitical and professional members of the armed forces who are embarrassed by what is going on. But when – as Goodluck Jonathan did – a president goes out of his way to retire several very senior generals simply to pave way for the emergence of his kinsman as chief of army staff, the politicization of the military become reckless. We are now paying the price for turning a blind eye when the anomalies happened.
If the military’s involvement had ended in merely blackmailing the supposedly Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into shifting the election dates, things wouldn’t have been so appalling. But the consequences of the postponement go beyond logistical and political inconvenience. It has, in one way or another, affected Nigeria’s electoral dynamics. For that reason, no matter the outcome of this year’s presidential election – assuming it holds at all – the military, by insisting on the shift in election date, has already rigged the process.
To rig something means to engineer, assemble, prepare, fix or manipulate. Even the most obdurate of Jonathan’s supporters would admit that the PDP was heading for electoral catastrophe had the presidential election had taken place on February 14 as originally planned. All indications were that the APC would have won a landslide, despite the so-called polls and projections claiming that the election would have been close.
By interfering with the political process at such a crucial stage, the Military Party of Nigeria halted the momentum of the APC and gave the PDP much needed time to re-launch its flagging campaign. The dubious ‘extra time’ allocated to the PDP has given it time to play what it hopes would be a joker – launching the most negative campaign in the history of electioneering in Nigeria with the singular objective of destroying the integrity of Gen Buhari.
Whether these tactics succeed or not will have far-reaching consequences for our democracy. And this leads to the question; will the PDP/ MPN alliance allow popular will reign, or will they, again, under whatever excuse they can dream of, thwart the democratic process to ensure that only a candidate of their choice emerges president?
The Nigerian military watched as Boko Haram transformed from a local sect into the deadliest terrorist group in the world, now requiring the help of Chadian forces to liberate Nigerian territory. They should be more concerned with restoring their severely dented reputation and not attempt to determine who emerges the president of Nigeria. That is a function of the electorate, not the military high command.
