Already, the 2019 general election is shaping up to be the most unpredictable contest of its kind in the history of Nigeria. It is a fact that the country’s party politics and elections have rarely been so tensed with drama and indecision by the politicians.

The two main political parties in the country, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP are close in the opinion polls over next year’s general elections, despite the fact that APC is currently the ruling party. In fact, many Nigerians have since gave it to the PDP with the popular slogan, “Change the change” due to the high level of bombings by the Boko Haram insurgents, killings by suspected herdsmen and kidnappings by hoodlums as well as the harsh economic situation in the country.

The rate at which politicians are changing platforms is on the increase. In many states across the country, there has been a gale of defections and political alignments as the 2019 election season gradually unfolds.

Though defections and alignments are not new in politics, it is becoming more pronounced in emerging democracies such as Nigeria’s. However, while in the past both tested and amateur politicians moved enmasse towards ruling parties when it is about election time and ask for waivers, the trend is increasingly changing considering what is happening in many states, despite the fact that the contests are almost a year away.

It is the same story in both chambers of the National Assembly where senators and representatives have cross-carpeted from the parties on which they were elected to other ones in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.

For example, in the Senate, the defection is mainly between the ruling APC and the leading opposition PDP. In the last one year, the two parties have received new members among the senators who, mainly, capitalized on the “crises” in their parties, moved to one another.

However, there was a mild drama on the floor of the upper legislative on Wednesday, May 30 when the chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West), upon his resumption of plenary after his arrest by the Police on April 24, had through a point of order, appealed to the senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki to instruct the Sergeant-at-Arms to provide a comfortable seat for him at the PDP wing, having allegedly finding it very uncomfortable to seat at the APC wing pending his full recovery.

Senator Melaye had resumed plenary in white neck brace after about six weeks of the legal tussle with the Police. He sustained injury in the process of his arrest and being taken to Lokoja, Kogi State for arraignment over alleged illegal possession of firearms and criminal conspiracy by the security agents. The lawmaker was rushed in an ambulance to the Zankli Hospital, Abuja for treatment after which he was later transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja for better attention.

The Senate had on April 25, halted plenary to visit the lawmaker at National Hospital, Abuja, to ascertain his health condition. Senatorr Melaye, while expressing his appreciation to his colleagues, constituents and other Nigerians for standing by him during his travails, said: “Mr. President, I am alive in your midst. President, I have a declaration that there is a God”.

He commended the leadership of the opposition PDP for standing by him. “I appreciate the PDP for making statements during my recall exercise and asking everyone to stay back. To the national chairman of the PDP and indeed the executive chairman of the party in Kogi, I salute you. I want to assure Nigerians that I will always stand by the truth and there is no amount of intimidation, harassment, name calling, blackmail, that will deter my attention from speaking the truth”, he said.

Senator Melaye, did not, however, say whether he was defecting from APC to PDP or not. He continued: “I have a special request to ask you, Mr. President, that because of the trauma I went through and I am still going through, I want to seek your indulgence to let the Sergeant-at-Arms look for a comfortable seat for me on this side of the divide.

“This is because I am no longer comfortable sitting here. I want to ask Mr. President that you asked the Sergeant-at-Arm to look for a comfortable seat close to Senator Jeremiah Useni (PDP Plateau South) or Senator David Mark (PDP Benue South)”, he said.

The request, however, generated a mild drama, as some APC members fought to stop Senator Melaye from having his request granted by the senate president, also a member of the ruling party. But the PDP senators were elated by the development as about five of them, including Senators Sam Anyanwu (Imo East), Obinna Ogba (Ebonyi Central), Danjuma La’ah (Kaduna South), and Murray Ben-Bruce (Bayelsa East) quickly embraced him and took him to the seat beside the one designated for Senator Mark, a former senate president.

But irked by the development, the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC Yobe North) quickly rose through order 56(3) of the senate’s standing rules to kick against the action. According to him, the Senate has since inception from 1999 till date been guided by the rules which specifies clearly that senators elected on the platform of the party with majority seats in the Red Chamber sit on the right side of the mace while those elected on the platforms of other parties sit on its left side.

“Therefore, Mr. President, the 8th Senate would be setting a bad precedence if Senator Melaye is allowed to remain on the other side that he had gone to, as an APC Senator.

“Besides, there is nothing making seats at the other end more comfortable than the side we, the APC senators are sitting because I was there for eight years without experiencing any special comfort there. Please, Mr. President, let the Chief Whip of the Senate, (Olusola Adeyeye, APC Osun Central) go to the other side and bring Dino back”, the senate leader said.

But the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu (PDP Enugu West) countered him by arguing that Senator Melaye’s movement to the other side was driven by welfare and security and not party membership.

“Section 14(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended, states that the primary purpose of government is all about welfare and security of citizenry, which Senator Melaye said is no longer guaranteed for him from the right side of the Senate.

“Besides, the Senator is at liberty to move to whichever sides of the Senate in line with section 41 of the constitution which guarantees free movement for all Nigerians.

“Melaye came this morning complaining that he was no longer comfortable with where he sits and that he will be more comfortable where he is now. That is welfare. So as a government, we will ensure that his welfare is well protected here”, he stressed.

Also, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (PDP Akwa Ibom North-West) rose through order 43 under personal explanations to argue in favour of Senator Melaye’s action. He said rather than the APC senators complaining, it is the PDP senators who supposed to complain that somebody is coming to their side to occupy seat there.

“Since we are not complaining, there is no reason for our brothers on the other side to complain. The senator has come to us for comfort and we shall give him and more are even invited to do same. Our side is big enough for them”, he said.

Spirited attempts made by Senator Jibrin Barau (APC Kano North) through constitutional point of orders hinged on section 60 of the 1999 constitution and another one raised by Senator Olusola Adeyeye for the senate president to rule against Senator Melaye’s action proved abortive as Saraki declared that the premise upon which the action was taken was not envisaged by the Senate standing rules.

However, in his ruling, the senate president noted that since the demand was anchored on Senator Melaye’s health, he had no option than to allow him to sit where he believed would facilitate his quick recovery.

“Our rules here regarding the movement of senator from one side of the senate divides to the other did not capture the situation on ground as regards Senator Melaye’s request.

“Comfort and state of mind of a senator are not in any way envisaged by our rules, meaning that we have to accommodate Dino’s request till the time he gets out of his trauma.

“Dear colleagues, I think we, as members of the National Assembly have always shown that whatever happens to anyone of us happens to all of us’’.

The relocation of Senator Melaye to the opposition PDP wing due to ill health was no doubt, caused by the lacuna in the senate standing rule which did not envisage such circumstances.

Notwithstanding, however, politics of 2019 cannot be ruled out of the senator’s action, more so with the endorsement of the senate president to his request which was strange to many political observers. Many argued that Senator Melaye’s action was a pointer to the fact that Saraki and his supporters may be on their way back to PDP or any other party. The Kogi born lawmaker is a strong ally of the senate president.

It is a case of the Isau’s hand and Jacob’s voice, more so that the ruling party, APC, which they both belong, will hold its elective national convention on June 23 in Abuja. Curiously, despite the fact that there are over 60 registered political parties gearing up for 2019, the real game for now is between the APC and PDP.