We caught up with Chief Oseloka H. Obaze, who recently returned to active politics after a hiatus of 8 months, and announced his joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Sir, congrats on returning to mainstream politics. You are trending. Did you Defect, Re-join, Re-enter or Decamp?
Of my free volition, I joined the ADC after much reflection on the state of our nation.
The past eight months must have afforded you ample opportunity to survey Nigeria politics cum party management?
Yes. Of course. I’ve spent the past eight months reflecting and writing. My thoughts are in the public domain. As regards party management, the efficacy and resilience of any political party must rest on discipline and strict adherence to the party’s constitution. It is beyond a cliché to say that the party is supreme. National parties with experienced, disciplined, and fair minded chairmen tend to do well. We teach political science in schools but hardly entrust party administration to those who understand the mechanics of it all. I personally have more respect for an elected Ward Party Chairman than for an appointed state official. Regrettably, our state governors have corrupted the process of proper party administration. They elect loyalty over competence. And that’s the crux of the challenge.
What specific issues do you think are necessary for viable party system?
Politics make very strange bedfellows. I’m an apostle of Waziri Ibrahim’s philosophy of politics without bitterness. Regrettably, we witness a lot of movement and interparty shifts. I’m even guilty of this, whether you call it defection or cross-carpeting. These things happen due to lack of ideology, due to poor party funding arrangements and because some moneybags have become professional politicians. Politics is about service. For me, personally, I don’t get involved in any project, politics included, unless I can add value. But beyond this, our politics have suffered immensely, because it has become a zero-sum-game of winner takes all. Hence, those in power stifle the opposition, poach from their ranks and use government agencies to harass and intimidate those in opposition. The separation of powers has also been corrupted to our national detriment.
Give us a helicopter view of ADC that enhanced your decision?
National interest; the need to rescue Nigeria and the overarching need to end the rut and rot, which APC has imposed on Nigerians.
I was deeply involved in the 2O23 presidential elections and it was tough. In 2027, only a broad-based alliance can topple APC. I see myself as part of that alliance, in any humble way I can contribute. ADC represents, to my mind, the special purpose vehicle and rallying point for eclectic politicians and patriots who want to rescue Nigeria from those presently focussed and fixated on State Capture.
As a development expert and diplomat do you think ADC has the capacity and ethical standing to reverse the rot in Nigeria’s political economy?
ADC is almost two decades old and as a national coalition party, it is fairly broad-based. With it’s diversity comes an aggregation of vast leadership and political experience. So, the capacity and ethical standing are there, if the political will to make the necessary sacrifices required to turn the nation around subsists. The altered state of governance in Nigeria, coupled with insecurity, polarization, rising bigotry and a very emaciated economy, compels urgent remediation. The change we seek must, of course, be constitutional. It will require concerted efforts and rallying to the common cause of true nation-building. To turn Nigeria around, we need a new leaderdhip cadre and transformative mindset; not the present cadre of profligate leaders that suffer from negative groupthink syndrome.
