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  • ‘Political parties, ideology and good governance’

    ‘Political parties, ideology and good governance’

    Author: Dr. Wale Ahmed
    Pages: 240
    Publisher: Sage Communications
    40, Shobowale Street,
    Off Akilo Road, Agege Lagos.
    Reviewer: Olalekan Andu

    The 240-paged book: ‘Political Parties, Ideology and Good Governance,’ written by Dr. Wale Ahmed, highlights and clarifies established thoughts and the linkages among the three concepts: political parties, ideologies and good governance.

    Although every human being is said to be a political animal, those who effectively play politics are politicians operating on the platforms of political parties. Their ultimate aim is the attainment of power for an objective. It is the key to the authoritative allocation of values.

    The exercise of power is only meaningful when it is impactful. Those in power live up to expectation through service delivery and distribution of dividends to the people.

    The role of ideology is the provision of a compass. Unfortunately, the ideological culture is dying as political parties have become mere vehicles for riding to power.

    But the period of ideological politics appeared far better when government and governance were better assessed and deviation easily detected and reprimanded. The danger of ideological vacuum is the lack of principle, a philosophical underpinning and clear direction.

    Dr. Ahmed is eminently qualified to do expositions on the relationships among ideology, party as an organisation and good governance having been a key player in the country’s political life in the last 25 years.

    Having placed his hand on the political plough in 1999, he has not looked back. His involvement is clearly associated with the era of uninterrupted civil rule and political instability.

    Apart from serving as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly for four years, he had also been privileged to serve as commissioner under two administrations. In those public offices, he was guided by party rules, ethos and beliefs which guided the steps of the governments midwifed by his political parties.

    Indisputably, his experience as a party officer in the two dominant political parties may have enriched his understanding of pseudo-ideological politics of the Fourth Republic where the two major parties – Alliance for Democracy (AD) (and its latter-day offsprings -Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria and to some extent, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – have consistently been locked in the battle for power.

    Although politics usually assumes a national character and outlook because parties in Nigeria are centrally operated, the grassroots have remained the pillars of national politics. That has given birth to the dictum: politics is local. Without its taproots at the nooks and crannies, political parties’ aspiration for power at the centre under the presidential system may be difficult. It must be noted that the feedbacks from the grassroots are crucial to the reshaping and refocussing of government policies and programmes designed for the benefit of the people.

    In Chapter Two, the author brings to the fore the memory of the first democratic parties whose involvement in the elective process reinforced the awareness about minimalist participatory and representative democracy. The Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP), led by Herbert Macauley, laid the foundation of effective group participation.

    But although the party had a national outlook, it later nearly regressed into a regional body in post-Macauley period. Mismanaged and lacking in strategy, it failed to be the majority party at independence, although it remained popular. When the opportunity for an alliance with its rival, Action Group (AG), led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, came, it was sacrified on the altar of deep tribal suspicion. Yet, the success of the alliance could have made it the ruling party.

    Chapter Three x-rays the independence parties – National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), AG, Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), the split in AG that led to the birth of NNDP, led by Chief Ladoke Akintola, and the consequences of intra-party conflicts that led to electoral rigging and tension in the wild wild West. The inability to manage the fruits of nationalist struggles and the gains of independence by the founding fathers led to the military coup of 1966. The lesson is that political actors should play by the rules, avoid rigging, respect the constitution and embrace the value of critical compromise.

    In Chapter Four, the author examines the perception of early political leaders about the national question. The NPC leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello, believed strongly in the recognition marked difference and defence of regional identities within the federation. The NCNC leader, Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe, had to change his belief in unitary system, unlike Awolowo who had since 1947 canvassed federalism as the most suitable system befitting a plural or highly heterogenous country.

    Up to now, the battle for restructuring to foster true federalism is still raging. It is clear, through the explanations offered by the author, that centralisation of power is incompatible witb the nature of the geographical expression called Nigeria.

    In Chapter Five, the author draws attention to the impact of coups and military regimes. There is also a focus on the indigene/settler tension, which has remained unresolved till today.

    The coup of 1966 gave birth to more coups. Soldiers declared war on themselves to get and retain illegitimate power while posing as modernisers. But lacking the true national outlook, the regional bigots who struck in 1966 only invited retaliation few months later from another set of ethnic bigots in uniforms. The second coup led to a succession battle among military officers, which ultimately led to the avoidable civil war.

    The lessons of the war should never be forgotten. A ‘no victor, no vanquished’ was declared. But national integration has not been completely achieved. It is an unfinished business. Perhaps, more inclusive programmes may guarantee a sense of belonging.

    In Chapter Six, the author dwells on the significance of Lagos as a progressive state and the economic nerve centre; the headquarters of progressive nationalist agitations during the colonial rule, the former federal capital and stronghold of progressive parties and governments that have made it a reference point in the country. A complex, sophisticated, costomopolitan and politically conscious Yoruba town that accommodates other ethnic groups, its voting pattern has affirmed its preference for progressive ideas, policies and programmes. What other parts of the country should learn from Lagos is the absence of deep indigene/settler rift and tension and management of resources for greater wellbeing.

    Chapter Eight reminds Nigerians about the era of the Evil Genius, Military President Ibrahim Babangida, who midwifed an elongated transition programme that was deliberately designed to fail. Yet, the June 12, 1993 presidential poll has remained the best in the history of the country. The only snag was that the results were criminally annulled by those who wielded the power of the gun.

    Read Also: Democracy Conference urges INEC to register more political parties

    In Chapter Nine is an account of how former President Olusegun Obasanjo returned to power as a civilian leader but could not adjust to the requirements of the democratic order. No attempt was made to resolve the national question through restructuring and the hand of the Federal Government was heavy on the sub-regional units.

    But the greatest damage to democracy was the assault on the ballot box, as reflected in President Umaru Yar’Adua ‘s open confession that the election that brought him to power was severely flawed.

    Although the electoral agency has since improved on the conduct of elections, the consensus is that electoral reform is also an unfinished business.

    It is not surprising that Dr. Ahmed has exclusively devoted the later part of the book to the political career trajectory of his leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was governor of Lagos State when he was a member of the House of Assembly.

    I am convinced that aspiring politicians across the three tiers and geo-political zones have a lot to learn from his audacity, daring attitude, boldness, capacity for bridge-building and risk-taking and courage.

    From being a senator and governor, Asiwaju Tinubu has achieved federal power, recording the feat that even eluded many founding fathers of the country and associates who carried on with their ideas and inherited, as it were, their structures.

    It is interesting that Dr. Ahmed has also tried to demonstrate that Tinubu has not bidded for or achieved power in vain. He highlights some of his achievements, which are salutary, despite the constraints of governance in a highly heterogenous country that is still struggling to become a nation, almost 65 years after independence.

    Although it is too early to really assess the administration, based on its campaign promise of ‘renewed hope,’ there are indications that it is on course; focussed, determined to succeed and result-oriented.

    This is a rich historical book focusing on party politics in the pre-indepence era, the first and second republics, the aborted Third Republic and the Fourth Republic.

    Subsequent editions could be expanded to accommodate a critical analysis of the demise of ideological culture in Nigerian politics.

    Referencing should also be reviewed to reflect the adoption of formats prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA).

    The book should be recommended to all and sundry – scholars of history and political science, party officers, ideologically-inclined politicians and students of political society.

  • Five defunct political parties in Nigeria

    Five defunct political parties in Nigeria

    In Nigeria’s political history, a number of political parties have emerged and become defunct for various reasons. Some of these defunct political parties have left a mark on the country’s political landscape, contributing to its democratic evolution and shaping the socio-political narrative while showcasing the diversity of ideologies, interests, and aspirations within the nation. 

    Here are popular political parties that no longer exist in Nigeria:  

    1. Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) 

    Founded in 2006, It merged into the now All Progressives Congress after it was dissolved in 2013. 

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a political party formed from the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several other minor political parties in September 2006.

    The party, which was controlled in Lagos, was regarded as a natural successor to the progressive politics more closely associated with the Action Group and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the First and Second Republics respectively. 

    The party had a strong presence in the South West (5 Governors, 15 Senators and 6 State Houses), Mid-West (1 Governor) and North Central Regions (3 Senators). Lagos, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo, Bauchi, Plateau, Niger, Adamawa, Oyo and Osun states by far accounts for the majority of the party’s presence.

    2. Action Group (AG)

    Founded in 1951, the Action Group was a dominant political party in Western Nigeria led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The party advocated for regional autonomy and social welfare programs. However, internal power struggles and the Nigerian First Republic’s collapse led to the party’s demise in 1966.

    3. Alliance for Democracy (AD)

    The Alliance for Democracy, formed in 1998, was a progressive opposition political party in Nigeria. 

    According to Nigerian Scholars, The party was embroiled in a leadership tussle between Mojisola Akinfenwa and Adebisi Akande, which lingered until September 2006 when the ‘Bisi Akande faction merged with other opposition parties to form the Action Congress party.

    4. All People’s Party (APP)

    The All People’s Party(APP) was formed in 1998 with most of its support coming from the middle belt and parts of the northern region.

    The APP, however, in 2003 became the All Nigeria People’s Party which is also now defunct.

    5. Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNPP)

    NNPP was the country’s first political party formed in 1923 by Herbert Macaulay.

    The party, which was adopted in 1964 by Samuel Akintola for his party as part of a process of unseating the left-leaning Action Group led by Obafemi Awolowo from power in the Western Region, was formed to take advantage of the new Clifford Constitution, which succeeded the 1914 Nigerian Council.

    These defunct political parties left marks on Nigeria’s political history, showcasing how the democratic journey, challenges, and aspirations of the country has evolved. Although they may no longer exist, their legacies continue to influence some of the political discourse as well as shape the quest for the social progress of the country.

  • Political parties, governance and leadership succession

    Political parties, governance and leadership succession

    The view in some quarters is that the ongoing disturbingly incendiary, even if low intensity warfare, between former two-term governor of Rivers State and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, and his personally and passionately anointed successor, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, is a function of perceived weaknesses and/or excesses of both men. While some have accused Wike of high-handedness, an overbearing disposition and intolerance in his relationship with his successor, others contend that Fubara has exhibited the highest degree of ingratitude and tactlessnesses towards his predecessor given the unprecedented exertions of the latter to ensure his emergence as governor.

    Both men evidently have their faults and failings. But this kind of personalized reading of the often strained relationships between governors and their successors, which has been quite common in this dispensation as exemplified by the combustible crisis between two-term governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and his equally anointed successor and incumbent governor of the state, Mr Godwin Obaseki, may not be helpful in locating the institutional roots of the problem and preferring enduring solutions.

    Just as was the case in Edo, the dimension of the problem in Rivers was assuming alarming proportions before the intervention of President Bola Tinubu with the anarchic incapacitation of the state legislature with dangerous implications for democratic practice in the state. It is the view of this column that the source of this recurrent problem in several states lies in the underdevelopment of the political party system in the country and the consequent emergence of many incumbent state governors as virtual sole administrators and veritable dictators in their states.

    Despite the central role that the extant 1999 constitution accords political parties as the platforms for the emergence of occupants of both legislative and executive leadership at all levels, the parties have since 1999 not evolved the requisite quality of organizational structures, ideological clarity and philosophical disposition to effectively perform their constitutional functions in this regard.

    Consequently, at the state level in particular, governors have emerged as strong men who have practically captured and immobilized the enfeebled party structures through which they ascended to power in their states. This has contributed to the debilitating leadership succession problems in many states with governors imposing their choices mostly through strong arm tactics only with the latter once in power seeking to become all powerful strong men in their own right.

    It is not surprising that one of the most effective, impactful and result-oriented political leaders this country has ever produced, whose leadership as the first Premier of the Western Region in the First Republic has remained a landmark, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had no illusions about the prime role of political parties in ensuring effective, accountable and focused governance. In a speech to the Oyo State Conference of the Unity Party of Nigeria in November, 1980, Awolowo was unequivocal in his articulation of the supremacy of the party over its members in both the executive and the legislature.

    In his words, “The important point to stress here is that our Constitution clearly makes a Registered Political Party the cornerstone of the activities of all the members of that Party, including those of them in the Legislature and Executive, as well as those of them operating outside these two organs of government. Indeed, the Registered Political Party is the sole source from which candidates for election, and elected members of the Legislature and the Executive, derive life blood for acceptability, public status and legitimacy”.

    The truth of the matter is that elected officers either in the legislature or executive are not expected to function independent of the political parties on the platform of which they were elected. And this does not exclude governors. In justifying and rationalizing Fubara’s rebellion and repudiation of Wike’s leadership and mentorship, some have made the untenable argument that once elected a governor should be allowed to be his own man, to independently choose his commissioners and other aides as well as chart his autonomous cause. But then, a governor was elected on the platform of a party. No governor wins election alone.

    The party must thus necessarily have a say in the choice of appointment of officers by a governor and government elected on its platform. Indeed, in the Second Republic, key officers both of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the President Shehu Shagari administration including the National Chairman of the party, the President, the Senate President, Senate Leader and Speaker of the House of Representatives met regularly to take joint decisions on appointments, major contract awards and other issues. Indeed, elected officials are expected to implement the policy planks of their parties.

    Read Also: INEC, political parties absent as NASS begin process of electoral reform

    In my view neither the parliamentary nor the presidential systems of government envisages that the head of the executive arm of government will govern alone. True, under the parliamentary system, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are more dependent on the legislature but even Nigeria’s presidential constitution mandates the Chief Executive to appoint a Council of Ministers which he must consult regularly in running the affairs of state. Unfortunately, in many states, the governors run their administrations like emperors with the State Executive Council no more than rubber stamps and robotic sounding boards for the governor’s often ill conceived and defective ideas.

    To make matters worse, the state legislatures are also at the beck and call of state governors while the local government councils are denied any meaningful financial or other forms of autonomy. And the civil servants too are too cowed to give honest and objective professional counsel. In many cases even the judiciary is largely emasculated by the governors’ suffocating monopoly of power. In such a situation, the governor is most likely to be dangerously divorced from reality and prone to make avoidable and costly policy errors.

    Ironically, in derisively referring to President Bola Tinubu as ‘The Godfather’ of Lagos during and after his tenure as governor of the country’s commercial nerve center, many of such critics are blissfully ignorant of his modus operandi in governing the state that was largely responsible for his widely acclaimed success in laying the foundation for today’s viable and rapidly growing mega city. For instance, the State Executive Council under his leadership was a rigorous and vibrant debating forum where proposed policies were exhaustively considered before being adopted, rejected or modified on merit. Just like governor Babatunde Raji Fashola immediately after him and governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu today, Tinubu enjoyed being debated and challenged on the basis and soundness of his ideas and did not despise losing arguments to better alternatives. Lagos has been the better for this liberal disposition of her successive governors over the last two and half decades.

    Apart from carrying party leaders along in the governance process, Tinubu instituted the novelty of a Governors Advisory Council (GAC) comprising seasoned administrators, politicians and statesmen to contribute to deepening the quality of governance. Furthermore, he deployed greater tact and wisdom in his relationship with his successors such that even when there was crisis, it never snowballed into the uncontrollable scenario witnessed in many states. He was able to exercise considerable influence in the choices of those who emerged as governor after him not through strong arm tactics but through extensive informal consultations with party and other stakeholders as well as the soundness and competence of his choices.

    The only way to effectively address and curtail the frequent distracting and destructive conflicts and tensions between governors and their successors is to replace the current tradition of the supremacy of the governor with the healthier and less dysfunctional supremacy of the party. When Chief Awolowo was leaving the Western Region as Premier to contest for election at the centre, he involved party leaders at various levels in the process that led to the emergence of Chief Ladoke Akintola as his successor in the West even though he had other preferred candidates for the job such as Chief Rotimi Williams or Chief Anthony Enahoro.

    That was why when he faced rebellion from Akintola against his leadership of the Action Group (AG), critical stakeholders in the West and the rank and file of the party stood by Awo despite the immense powers and resources of the Premier. That is a lesson to governors to encourage the functioning of viable party structures and involve the latter fully in the determination of their successors so that they can have solid support bases when the new emperors they single-handedly imposed bare their fangs.

    All too often, governors want to be lone super stars and to claim all the glory and accolades for the perceived successes of their administrations. That is most unwise. No leader in reality succeeds alone. Here again, appropriate lessons can be learnt from the inimitable Awolowo. In his valedictory speech to the Western Region House of Assembly after his superlative performance as Premier of the region, he declared “The undoubted, outstanding and epoch-making successes which have characterized my regime have not been achieved single-handed. I have owed these successes to God’s abiding grace and mercy, and to the cooperation of all my colleagues without exception. I take this opportunity to pay public tribute to my cabinet and Parliamentary colleagues for their patriotism, public-spiritedness and devotion to duty; and for their unwavering loyalty to the noble cause of our great party and to my leadership”.

    Awo even had a word of appreciation to the opposition in the Region: “However much one may dislike the methods of some individual opposition members, the fact remains, and I hereby publicly and gratefully acknowledge it, that under the leadership of the Honorable Dennis Osadebey, the opposition has made worthy contributions to the healthy growth of parliamentary democracy in this Region”. Today, in how many states of the country do we have thriving and vibrant oppositions which are indispensable to good governance? It is this anomaly of state governors as tyrants that must be addressed to prevent or at least drastically minimize the ongoing debilitating crisis in Rivers State.

  • Notes for opposition political parties

    Notes for opposition political parties

    The recent call by former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar GCON, for the merger of opposition parties to form a formidable team that will provide constructive opposition is a welcome development. I also commend the support for the merger by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), through its Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abba Kawu-Ali. What remains to be seen is how the merger will emerge, given the inability of the political gladiators to form a coalition prelude during the 2023 general elections, in which case the opposition could have been more formidable and effective during the elections. More so after the 2023 elections, almost all the key political actors have lost control/grip of their political party structures due to intra-parties wrangling. 

     Accordingly, I hope that the merger will be formed based on lessons learned, being the reasons why politicians are abandoning their political parties to either the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or other political parties, in some cases, they go away with fragments of the parties they leave, while the other fragments will most likely be subsumed into the ruling party – the APC. I hope that the key politicians will be able to form a merger that will be based on common objectives, for our common good as a nation. Otherwise, the coalition may not be an effective opposition or may not happen at all. In my opinion, the opposition, should learn from the APC model of 2014, the constructive alliance by the then Deputy President of Kenya, Mr.  William Ruto with the newly formed United Democratic Alliance Party that led to his winning the Presidential elections to emerge as the President of Kenya in October last year, as well other trends of effective opposition coalitions in Europe and other democracies that achieved success in putting the ruling parties in check and effectively upstaging incumbent political parties and leaders despite the strong power of incumbency. 

     Political parties’ merger should be based on a strong foundation with critical pillars for success. Otherwise, it will be just one of those failed alliances that we have seen in Nigeria in the past. Some examples include During the Second Republic, the failed alliance in 1979, between late Mallam Aminu Kano’s PRP with UPN, NPP, GNPP, and NAP. Mallam Aminu PRP was initially a member of an alliance in opposition to the NPN. But the PRP under the leadership of Mallam Aminu Kano, based on principles, quietly withdrew from the alliance just before the general elections; The ineffective alliance between All People’s Party (APP) (of which I was founding and active party operative at that time) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) whereby the Alliance was formed a bit late too close to the 1999 Presidential elections and the APP/AD  Presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae could not win the PDP Presidential candidate, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo – the rest is history; The failed attempted alliance between former President Mohammed Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria during the buildup to the 2011 Presidential elections; The failed attempted alliances between Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso’s NNPP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s PDP and/ or Mr. Peter Obi’s Labor Party (LP) despite the obvious need for the alliance a as critical success factor to upstage the incumbent APC. The past experiences should guide the visions, aspirations, thoughts, and missions of the merger promoters.

     Experience has also shown that in Nigeria, almost all mergers and alliances of political parties are formed as platforms to win incumbent political parties, albeit the alliances and mergers were mostly formed late, and too close to elections. This is so much so that fundamentally, political parties are mainly used as Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for politicians to win elections. Today, only a few politicians can boast of consistency in terms of political ideology and/ or party loyalty. Therefore, obviously, alliances are formed with underlying parochial interests and not national interests, in which case the mergers are either never achieved or fail to meet the intended objectives. 

     Furthermore, carry-overs of lack of intra-party democracy, intra-party bickering, etc. into merger discussions are also recurring deal-breakers. Basically, politicians want to form mergers in order to achieve individual selfish interests rather than based on a shared vision and common national interest. These faulty foundations make the merger/ alliance talks dead on arrival. We have a classic example in the 2023 Presidential elections. Interestingly the combined number of votes garnered by the three major opposition party candidates, i.e Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, of PDP, Mr. Peter Obi of LP, and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of NNPP were more than the votes garnered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is a typical example of the idiom, ”United we stand, divided we fall”. The rhetorical question is, “Will most of our politicians ever rise above their selfish and parochial interests to actually do the needful?” Your answers are as good as mine. 

     It also is worthy of note that after the 2023 general elections, except for Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the leader of the NNPP, almost all the hitherto Presidential candidates appear to have already lost control of their party structures and machinery. That is a key indication of how weak opposition political parties will be except if they genuinely get their acts together. In addition, the call for the merger is also evidence of already weakening opposition political parties’ ecosystem, and if the situation is not salvaged, we could most likely move to a semi-one-party state as a nation. By the way, I wonder aloud how the merger will be effective if respective political leaders do not have firm grips and balance on their current political parties; with unabating warring factions, and unending litigations while those that have won elections on the platform of the political parties have since either decamped to other the APC or have abandoned the Presidential candidates who are supposed to be the party leaders and are already pushing their own political agendas which are obviously parallel to the agenda of the political parties and their leaderships – to paraphrase the late venerable Chinua Achebe’s aptly titled popular Book, which also the opening stanza of William Butler Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming,” from which the title of the novel is taken, as an epigraph to the novel.

    Read Also: Reps to IGP, NSA: caution political parties against violent utterances

     A bit of perspective on opposition politics

    During the build-up to the 4th Republic, as a founding member of the All People’s Party (APP), I was privileged to be part of a seminar organized by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, as part of the events preparatory return to democracy and the 1999 general elections. Some incumbent Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom at that time gave us some high-level lectures on the tenets of democracy and party politics. It was an honor to have attended that seminar with the likes of some of Nigeria’s finest and foremost political leaders like the late Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Bola Ige, Late Senator (who was the Chairman of the PDP), Mahmud Waziri (who was at the Chairman of the APP), late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, late Senator Bello Maitama Yusuf, late Chief Olusola Saraki and other notable leaders. One of the topics of discussion during that seminar was, “How to be an effective opposition party”. A key takeaway for me from that seminar is the value that opposition parties add to democratic ideals, practices, and evolution by keeping the government in power on their toes to ensure good government, providing constructive engagements, while acting as potential alternatives should the ruling party fail to deliver its mandates. I hope that going forward Nigerians will experience valuable opposition– constructive, mature, and forward-thinking. 

     Furthermore, let us not forget that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in the opposition for 16 years. Mr. President was also in trenches with other vanguards of democracy, fighting for the return of Nigeria to democracy with some of them paying the ultimate price with their lives, some were detained and tortured, while some had to go into exile including President Tinubu. So, to be in opposition is to be bold, resolute, determined, resilient and value-adding.

     In conclusion, I am interested to see the strategy and counter-maneuvers of the opposition parties beyond the call for the merger. Would their strategies be based on constructive engagements, forcing the hands of good governance, holding the government of the day to account: Or would the opposition parties be preoccupied with intra-party quarrels and parochial interests? Would they be effectively united to face the very important issue of nation building by putting the government in check by focusing on issue-based opposition rather than mud-slinging and social media bullying? Would they also be proactive in what they preach within their parties or would they be selling us what they cannot consume? The answers to the rhetorical questions I raised will be the key determinants of how the opposition parties will fare in the next 4 years, especially given the fact that Nigerians are more politically conscious than at any time in the history of Nigeria. 

  • Political parties armed thugs to undermine 2019 polls, says IGP

    •Police chief gives security agencies pass mark

    The Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abubakar Mohammed Adamu has assessed the conduct of this year’s general election and concluded that though the polls were held in a largely credible and peaceful atmosphere, it was discovered that political parties and politicians armed their followers to undermine the electoral process.

    The Acting IGP, who spoke at a two-day annual summit of political parties and stakeholders organised by the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), said security agents made series of arrest of such armed thugs and recovered illegal firearms from them.

    He said the discovery by security agents indicated that the culture of political intolerance was still rampant among Nigerians.

    Adamu noted that if not addressed immediately, the trend could threaten future elections and the nation’s internal security architecture.

    The IGP urged political parties to address the involvement of their followers in activities that tend to undermine the electoral process with their active backing.

    He said: “It is my conviction that this post-general election evaluation initiative is vital to strengthening our democracy in Nigeria to the extent that it will identify gaps and lessons learnt that could impact future elections.

    “In this regard, our experience during the last general election indicates a gradual adherence as well as increased alignment with our electoral engagement to the rule of law.

    “Although there are few noticeable and fundamental issues in the conduct of political parties and other strategic actors within the electoral process, the recent general election was largely credible and conducted under a suitable internal security order.

    “From our perspective, the political parties must address certain issues. During the 2019 general election, a lot of things happened. These include diversion of electoral materials, political thuggery, intimidation of the electorate, coordinated attacks on polling units and disruption of the electoral process, snatching of ballot boxes and electoral materials, coordinated attacks on INEC workers and agents, vote-buying and vote-selling, impersonation and unlawful possession of permanent voters cards (PVCs), unlawful possession of firearms, as well as kidnapping of electoral officials and opponents.

    “All these were perpetuated by agents supported by political parties. We tried to stop these and made a number of arrests and recovered a number of firearms that were given to these people by political parties.

    “All these are areas you must look into during this summit which will review the conduct of the general election. All the challenges I have enumerated are things we saw during the elections; in your deliberation, you must begin to look into how to tackle these challenges.

    “These are indications that the culture of political intolerance is still with us, and if not mitigated, it could constitute a major threat to the sanctity of future electoral process as well as internal security.

    “Therefore, it is I my expectations that addressing these gaps will form part of the discourse here. There is no doubt that the conduct of political parties remains critical to the success of any electoral process.”

    The Acting Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Jonathan Juma, said it was indisputable that political parties are at the heart of democracy and are crucial to the success of democratic governance.

    Juma noted that despite evidence of democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, following five successive elections and peaceful transfer of power from one civilian regime to another, there were concerns that democratic progress was occurring amidst fragility of the institutions of democracy, especially the political parties and the party system.

    According to him, elections in Nigeria have remained contentious amidst disconcerting attitudes and comportment of the mainstream political elite.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Don’t deregister political parties’

    The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress Party (NDCP) in the last presidential election, Dr. Johnson Edosomwan, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to stop threatening political parties with deregistration.

    The international development consultant said that it is unfair and insensitive for the INEC to be wielding such a huge stick when political parties are struggling through an electoral process.

    Edosomwan said that the law is clear on the process and procedure of the deregistration of political parties.

    He emphasized that it is wrong for the INEC to bully parties into deregistration since the election process has not been finalized.

    He went further to state that “it is this same law that empowers the INEC to deregister political parties that will also stop the INEC from deregistering political parties because firstly, litigations are all over the place which will take time to resolve and we are going to be faced with the inability of some governors to conduct local government elections which is required by the amended constitution before the INEC can decide to deregister any party that did not win a local government election or a councillorship seat or score some percentage in the local government election”.

    Read also: Delta NDCP complains about poll irregularities

    Edosomwan said that it is undemocratic for the INEC to target parties for deregistering at this time.

    “Targeting political parties for deregistration is hasty and confusing. That shouldn’t be the INEC’s immediate focus at this time. It is unproductive for our democracy and will limit and reduce the vibrancy of our democracy and our democratic values.

    “In the interest of our nascent democracy, my advice to the INEC is to focus on all the complaints that are being made and correct the anomalies in its processes in order to build our political process,” Edosomwan.

  • Nigeria’s electoral theatrics

    Democracy …is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike—Plato

    If the recent announcement about emergence of 73 presidential candidates does not jolt fans of deliberative democracy about election fever in the country, nothing else can. More than ever before in the history of elections in the country, interest in presidential elections by political parties has never been this enthusiastic, just as the number of presidential and legislative offices has never been this astronomical.

    Nikolas Rose once theorised in an essay titled, “Governing by Numbers: Figuring out Democracy” that democratic power is calculated power, calculating power, and requiring citizens who calculate about power.” Though Rose’s emphasis was on the sociology of the linkage between manipulation of numbers: census, statistics, polls, etc., and the struggle for and exercise of power, my interest today is about the relationship between citizens who calculate about power, even before elections.

    Premium Times’ revelation that the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced nominations of 73 presidential candidates from over 90 political parties to contest for the presidency in 2019; 1,803 individuals to contest for 109 senate seats; and 4,548 candidates to jostle for 350 legislative seats ought to raise concerns about efficient management of the electoral process and sensitivity to voters’ needs. Without depriving citizens of their right of association, such staggering number of candidates calls for ideas on how to strengthen disciplined subjectivity of individuals, if conducting efficient and stress-free elections is to be part of the country’s electoral culture.

    If the meteoric rise in number of presidential candidates is caused by feelings by political parties that had been in the margins for years that they can take advantage of the perception that APC and PDP look more alike in 2019 than they did in 2015, they may have some point. But that 73 parties have such feeling is rather unusual for Nigeria’s electoral history from 1959 till 2015. Even in the context of elections in Africa, 73 presidential candidates from Nigeria is still bizarre.  For example, 23 candidates ran against Emmerson Mnangagwa, 20 against Ellen Sirleaf before that. The highest until now is 32 in Benin Republic. Other countries on the continent that have taken the concept of multi-party democracy to mean proliferation of parties include Niger with 30, Central African Republic with 30, Mali with 24, Somalia with 24 and Sierra Leone with 16. But Nigeria has made good its claim of being the leader of Africa with 90 political parties and 73 presidential candidates for the 2019 elections.

    What is likely to be the implications of Nigeria’s multitude of presidential candidates and of political parties, most of whom citizens do not hear of until a few months to election? First, there is an advantage: obvious respect by governments for citizens’ freedom of association. It is the disadvantages that are legion. Although INEC enthusiastically claims that it is in full control of handling the high number of parties, there is no doubt that something will give on election days, if not in relation to logistics, it may be in respect of stress of voters that would need to read 73 names or scrutinise over 70 party symbols in the process of identifying their preferred candidates. Equally will voters experience stress while voting for candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives where they will have to contend with choosing from many names on the ballot paper with multitudes of party symbols. The stress will be worse for the illiterate millions of voters who rely on party symbols as means of identifying their candidates of choice. The implications for fielding hordes of candidates on election day may not end with voters’ stress. Counting of votes is another factor capable of causing delay of results for days after casting of votes, with potential problems of computation and verification of votes.

    In some respect, the advent of multitudes of parties and candidates on the country’s electoral landscape may make choice difficult for voters. How many voters are likely to have the presence of mind to read through 73 manifestoes, most of them partial clones of each other? What percentage of voters will have the time to assess legions of promises by 73 presidential candidates? Fielding 73 presidential candidates smacks of mocking the electoral process, rather than growing opportunities for adequate analysis of the candidates by the electorate. In addition, in a truly free and fair election a situation of 73 presidential candidates increases the chance of getting a president who may be elected by a negligible minority of voters, simply because he or she has obtained majority of votes among 73 candidates. It is common knowledge that choosing may become meaningless if the field of choice is limitless.

    It is not only INEC that is the facilitator of electoral theatrics in respect of the 2019 elections. Owners or creators of political parties since the transition from military dictatorship to electoral politics have not helped matters. Why, for example, is it difficult for manufacturers of political parties to align their ideological missions to a few parties as has been the practice since the 1960s when the total number of politic parties were under ten? In a presidential system designed to throw up a candidate that can get the endorsement of majority of voters in a diverse polity so that the winner in a presidential election may be a unifier of the nation, it may be counterproductive to saddle voters with 73 candidates. Although the country may not have accomplished the intention of the framers of the constitution in respect of giving the country a president that is necessarily a nation’s unifier, establishing an electoral process that can promote this value is crucial to sustain the country’s unity. And fielding 73 presidential candidates is not likely to achieve this political goal.

    Political parties are means of unifying a country through organising citizens around ideologies and policies for governance, and not a means of further dividing the country into too many political parties to confound the electorate. Nigeria is already famous for having the largest number of churches, all in the name of freedom of association. The country should not extend the proclivity to manufacture hundreds of churches to political parties. Citizens that are desirous of becoming leaders need to realize that 90 political parties and 73 presidential candidates may divide the country more than they can unify it for proper governance.

    Since the election of last week in which only two parties; APC and PDP came out as candidates of choice, a few of the spokespersons for over 70 parties have been congratulating themselves for their efforts. Of course, this should be expected. Younger party leaders have come up to show that they too can compete for votes under the Not too Young to Run Legislation. But there are better ways for the new comers to presidential politics to make their decision to spend money and time more effective. If many of the presidential candidates have been more realistic, they would have realised that pooling resources—financial, intellectual, and organisational—could have given the country a viable third force owned by millennials. Some of the candidates who are already congratulating themselves for participating in the 2019 elections ought to know that it is not the number of political parties that matters, it is the strength of the parties in the field of play. No country needs hundreds of political parties to allow democratic governance to function. All that is needed is two or three parties for voters to choose from, as it is with most advanced democracies. Having political parties that score less than ten votes indicates that such parties are family projects that trivialise the right to be voted for. Of the many matters arising from the 2019 presidential elections, determination of how many political parties the INEC wishes to saddle citizens with at election times should be on the agenda for electoral reforms.

    The first part of this article first appeared three months before the 2019 presidential election.

    Roposek@msn.com

     

  • Govt to political parties: don’t involve schools in partisan political activities

    Ahead of 2019 general elections, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Education Secretariat on Friday cautioned political parties and their agents not to use public schools, pupils and students for political campaigns and partisan political activities.

    The education secretariat raised an alarm that it has discovered that there were plans by political parties and their against to infiltrate schools.

    It advised principals and head teachers to avoid granting access to politicians and political parties in this regard.

    The secretariat vowed to punish any principal or head teacher that violates the warning.

    A statement issued by the Assistant Director (Information), FCTA Education Secretariat, Anthony Ogunleye, reads in part: “The attention of the FCT Education Secretariat has been drawn to various attempts by political parties and their agents to access public schools in the FCT for the purposes of political campaigns and other partisan political activities.

    “We wish to state very clearly that the education secretariat will not tolerate the infiltration of its school system for political purposes in any guise or form.

    We have a statutory responsibility to ensure the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the students and pupils under our care and these cannot be guaranteed should there be unfettered access to our schools by political parties, individual politicians, their agents or representatives.

    “We therefore caution all those planning to use our students or school premises for partisan political activities to, in their own interest, please, stay away.

    Our principals and head teachers have also been advised not to grant any access whatsoever to any individual or organisation intending to use their schools or access the students for partisan political activities.

    “Any principal or head teacher that contravenes this directive will be sanctioned in accordance with the extant civil service rules and regulations.

    Any individual or group that wishes to access any public school in the FCT for whatever reason should first seek permission from the Office of the Secretary for Education.”

  • TMC to political parties: let there be no violence

    The Muslim Congress (TMC) has urged various political parties to eschew violence in going about the forthcoming general elections.

    Its Amir (President) Dr Luqman AbdurRaheem at the Quarterly state of the Nation briefing on Saturday in Lagos, said no one should see the coming General Elections as a do-or-die-affair especially as we have had assurances from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Presidency and the President that the elections will be credible, free and fair.

    AbdurRaheem said: “Let us believe these assurances and play our part in ensuring a peaceful election. Let there be no violence, vote-buying and vote-selling. INEC staff, security personnel and politicians should conduct themselves in the best possible manner since the election is a serious affair in the progress and survival of the nation.”

    AbdurRaheem, an Associate Professor urged Nigerians to must desist from circulating unofficial and fake results on the social media.

    This, he said, is capable of breaching public peace.

    He called on the religious and traditional rulers to use their respected offices in creating an atmosphere of peace and security.

    “Whichever candidate becomes victorious in any of the elections, what is paramount is the development and progress of the nation. Victorious candidates should know that the people have become more aware of their circumstances and their rights and would therefore not tolerate bad governance. The right dividends of democracy are what the people want after sacrificing to vote at the elections. For those that run afoul of the election and electioneering laws, the rule of law must be allowed to take its course as they receive deserved punishment that will serve as deterrent to others,” he said.

    He hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment not to use government money for electioneering campaigns.

    This, he said, is a boost to eliminating corruption in campaign financing in the nation since cash payment to voters corrupts the electoral process.

    He said: “In times past, we know how our economy would have been awash with federal government’s money and other illicit monies all in the name of electioneering campaigns. It would have been time to share not just naira but dollars and other foreign currencies with different Aso-Ebi to the bargain. Nigerians would have been in carnival mood with the usual rent-a-crowd agents, outdoor entertainment equipment owners and caterers making huge gains running into billions of naira. “But everywhere is quiet now and money launderers are awash with the fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). There is therefore little money available for electioneering campaigns. This has reduced money politics that has not allowed credible-but-not-wealthy candidates to emerge as candidates let alone win elections. It simply means that the candidates who emerged under the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Law stand a better chance against other older and probably wealthier candidates. This is a positive development that should be sustained in the years ahead as it allows government money to be strictly used for developmental purposes. But governors and local government chairmen across the states and local governments have not made similar commitments not to spend such monies. It would be a bigger impact if they can also commit themselves.”

  • 2019: INEC presents voters’ register to political parties

    Ahead of the 2019 general elections, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has presented the National Register of Voters to Political Parties.

    Yakubu did the presentation on Monday at the Quarterly Consultative Meeting with Political Parties in Abuja.

    Read Also: INEC takes PVCs collection to registration areas in Plateau

    According to him, the official total number of registered voters is 84,004,084. ( Eighty Four Million, Four Thousand, and Eighty Four).