An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has cautioned that the unbridled self-interest of key political actors and political parties pose a threat to the forthcoming 2023 polls.
He added that the country was in a mess because the leadership, particularly of the two major parties, APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), engaged the 2023 electioneering process from a standpoint of narrow self-interests rather than a national interest.
Olawepo-Hashin, who maintained that the nation must go to election and choose new leaders, however, charged Nigerians to start constructing issues-driven politics where public good will be at the center of their choices not bribery, narrow self-interest, religious bigotry and ethnic consideration.
He said that is the only way to avoid the current mess in the next election season.
Olawepo-Hashim's charge comes against the backdrop of rising concern of a possible interim government taking over the reins of power amid rising tensions ahead of the polls which will begin in less than 16 days.
The naira redesign policy and fuel scarcity had sparked a crisis within the ruling APC with the presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and some APC members accusing a cabal in the Presidential Villa working in cohorts with the PDP, to sabotage their chances of retaining power after the election.
Although PDP has accused the APC of instigating the crisis, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has had to grapple with the antics of a group of five governors, who had refused to campaign for him on account of their demand for the PDP national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, to step down from office.
However, Olawepo-Hashim, a 2019 presidential candidate, maintained that the failure to heed his warnings that there were indications "that crude and narrow interests of the various power centres will determine the outcomes of Primaries rather than what is best for the country" may have put the 2023 elections in a critical mess that may further entrap the nation.
In a statement released by his media office in Abuja on Wednesday, Olawepo-Hashim recalled that on January 1, 2022, he warned the nation to take more than a passing interest in primaries of the major political parties because that is where the real decisions about 2023 elections will be made.
"We added too that the indication is that crude and narrow interests of the various power centres will determine the outcomes of Primaries rather than what is best for the country," he said.
According to him, "the purchase of delegates' votes like onions and tomatoes, ethnic manipulations and religious bigotry may determine choices rather than the Nation's Good."
He added that despite "our warning, the scenario above was the process that triumphed as the two major parties and their candidates are not too different in public perception and consideration.
"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."
Olawepo-Hashin added "We are in a mess right now because the leadership particularly of the two major parties approached 2023 issues on account of narrow self interests rather than National interest."
He stated that 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.
According to him, "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."
He posited that 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 PDP, 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."
While maintaining that the nation must go to election and choose new leaders, he 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.
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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."
Olawepo-Hashim pointed out 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."
According to him, "If elections manages 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."
Nigerian citizens, he charged, "must also up their games to ensure that they begin to construct issue driven politics where public Good will be at the center 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 said.
