Aside from the two major parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has listed 12 other parties among those that will participate in the Edo governorship election. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines factors that may work against the fortunes of the fringe parties at the poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has unveiled the identity of the political parties contesting the Edo State governorship election.
The electoral umpire said 14 political parties have submitted nomination papers of their candidates for the September 19, 2020 poll.
Among the candidates are the front line contenders: Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mr Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Other candidates are: Obahafuso Paul, Action Alliance (AA); Akhigbe Ehiabhi, African Democratic Congress (ADC); Ibio Emmanuel, Action Democratic Party (ADP); Lucky Idehen, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Igbineweka Osamuede, Allied Peoples Movement, (APM) and Amos Areloegbe, All Peoples Party, (APP).
Others are Osifo Isiah, Labour Party (LP); Agbolebun Tracy, New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP); Steve Osono, National Rescue Movement (NRM); Felix Obayangbon, Social Democratic Party (SDP); Jones Osagiobare, Young Progressive Party (YPP) and Akhalamhe Amiemenoghena, Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Before now the APC and the PDP have been dominating the political space, to the detriment of the other parties who have been left to play a fringe role.
Indications are that it is not going to be different this time around, as analysts still believe that the election will be a straight fight between the APC and PDP.
A political scientist, Dr Charles Ekundayo observed that most of the smaller parties did not register to contest and win elective offices, but for the spoil of office.
He said politicians have turned parties into business ventures where they invest huge amount money in anticipation of returns.
His words: “As entrepreneurs, they expect returns on such investments through contracts and political patronage. Many of the party’s know they cannot win elections; what they do is to work for the stronger parties and negotiate for political appointments after election.
“They are jokers; they are going nowhere. In Edo today, if a survey on party popularity was to be conducted, most of the respondents would say APC or PDP because these are the two political parties that are on ground.
Most of these parties coming out to field candidates for the governorship election will sound strange to many people because they lack activities. Political parties do not go on recess. If you don’t win election, you play the role of opposition.
“In Nigeria, people just register parties ahead of elections, so that they can participate. But after the elections, they go underground till the next election cycle.
In advanced democracy, political parties are not busy or visible during election alone; they work hard all the year round to remain relevant.
That is why most of the smaller parties are not growing. When they come out during election period, people do not have confidence in them, as they will prefer to deal with the familiar parties.”
He advised smaller parties to start seeking power at the local government level. He said good programmes and service delivery will make such parties win elections in their immediate environment. From there, they could become a state or regional party and later metamorphose into a national party.
Former Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani also frowned at the tendency of disappearing from the political scene after elections by the smaller parties. He said they behave like impostors by waking up suddenly from slumber to participate in elections.
Ubani said they are not adding value to democratic governance by going under after every election. There is no need of having as much as 30 political parties.
We don’t need more than two or three political parties as it obtains in advanced democracy like the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany, France and even in Ghana, our neighbour.
The lawyer and human rights activist said: “None of the smaller parties contesting governorship election have won a seat at the local government level or the Edo State House of Assembly.
INEC can do more by applying sanctions on the political parties that fall short of standards prescribed in the Electoral Act.
“Though they have the right to exist and contest elections in accordance with the provision of the 1999 Constitution but they are not making impact on democratic development.
Rather, they constitute problem to the electoral process. The voters complain about the long ballot paper with many party logos.
The electorate usually find it difficult to locate their preferred parties because ballot papers carry the names and logos of all the political parties.
Voters also spend a long time voting, sometimes resulting in mistakes and eventually in invalid votes simply because of the many parties on the ballot paper.”
Ubani advised the smaller parties to coalesce and provide alternative platform for Nigerians to make choice. He said there is strength in number.
The fewer the number of parties contesting elections, the faster the electoral process and declaration of results, he added.
Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine agrees with Ubani that the smaller parties should fuse together and form a stronger party. He stressed that coalition building is important if they want to be relevant.
Akhaine, who teaches Political Science at the Lagos State University, (LASU) believes the smaller parties contesting Edo governorship poll lack structures and resources to win the election.
He equally thinks they are contesting not to win but to get compensated by the winning party either in cash or political patronage.
He said it would not be a surprise if some of the candidates step down for either the APC or the PDP candidate before the day of election.
A political activist, Dr Audu Ibrahim believes the size of a political party does not determine its relevance in the system.
He recalled that the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) despite the fact that it was a regional party with its stronghold in the Southwest was a vibrant opposition which kept the PDP- controlled Federal government under Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan on its toes.
Ibrahim said as a result of its consistency, the ACN became popular and people from all over the country embraced the party.
He said: “The problem with these smaller parties is that they don’t have independent sole. They had depended on the PDP for survival.
Now that the PDP is out of power, these parties can’t survive. How do you expect them to play the role of opposition? They should take a cue from ACN if they want to be relevant in the political system.
“I suggest that INEC should dissolve these nominal parties and set new guidelines that will make it possible to have two or at most three political parties in the country.”
A conflict analyst, Olayinka Ajala said the fringe parties “do not believe they are electable and are quick to form alliances to support larger parties”.
He said de-registration of non-performing parties would not solve the abuse of the country’s electoral system because the criteria for the registration of political parties remain loose and there were over 100 pending applications.
To him, the criteria for registration of political parties must be clarified and tightened to prevent politicians from continuing to use political parties for their personal gain.
Ajala who lectures at the University of York, United Kingdom (UK) said floating a political party has become a business venture since the country returned to democracy in 1999, because INEC provides funding to political parties.
Section 228(c) of the Nigerian Constitution allows for the disbursement of annual grants to political parties to assist them in discharging their functions.
The electoral commission, he said, needs to address three key issues. Ajala added: “First it must stop the payment of annual grants to political parties.
This would discourage people who are after such grants from floating parties. Second, the commission must put a cap on the prices of nomination forms for electoral positions on which many political parties depend as major source of revenue.
This system has led to a situation in which application forms to contest electoral positions are believed to be one of the most expensive in the world.
Thirdly, there is need to criminalise the cash for stepping- down syndrome whereby larger parties induce smaller ones with cash incentives and political patronage during the election period”.
Ajala also suggested that the smaller parties should merge and form a formidable alternative platform or third force.
He said the suggestion is imperative since most of the parties are too small to have regional or national significance and as well the resources to reach out to millions of electorate.
It is the view of analysts that most of the fringe parties were sponsored by the former ruling party, the PDP to weaken the political strength of its major opponent in the opposition stronghold.
Immediately after 2015 poll when PDP was flushed out of power, the smaller parties went under because there was no means to sustain them. Many of them exist only by name today, because their financier had lost power.
For instance, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, the Afenifere sponsored the formation and registration of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2015 to whittle down the influence of the APC in the Southwest and provide a platform for aggrieved governorship aspirants of other political parties to contest.
The SDP was one the two political parties floated by former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, as part of his transition to civil rule programme.
It was on the platform of the SDP that the late Chief MKO Abiola contested the 1993 presidential election which he won but was annulled by the Babangida regime.
In order to whip up sentiments in the Southwest the Afenifere resuscitated SDP. The SDP adopted former President Goodluck Jonathan of PDP as its presidential candidate in 2015.
The deal struck between the SDP National Chairman, Chief Olu Falae and Jonathan came into open when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered that Falae collected N10 million from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) out of $2.1 billion meant the purchase of arms to fight Boko Haram insurgents.
Falae admitted he collected the money on the agreement that his party -SDP- will work for Jonathan to win presidential election in the Southwest.
Since 2015, SDP failed to win local government election in Ondo State where Falae hails from and in the entire Southwest.
The party has been in comatose. Since the PDP lost power, the life line of the SDP appears to have been blocked.
The Labour Party (LP) that many thought would be independent of larger parties given its ideological stance had been swallowed by the PDP.
It was founded by the Labour Unions: the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko contested on the platform of LP in 2007 and 2012, he won both elections.
It was shortly after his re-election that he started romancing with Jonathan and the PDP big wigs. His defection marked the eclipse of the LP.
Mimiko threw his weight behind Jonathan’s re-election bid. He directed his supporters to cross over from LP to the PDP and vote for Jonathan.
The former governor said he and his supporters defected to enhance the PDP’s fortune in Ondo State. Mimiko was appointed the PDP presidential campaign in the Southwest in 2015.
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