LINUS CHIBUIKE & FOLASHADE KEHINDE
NIGERIANS have called on the political class to get their acts together and stop accusing only the parties that had been in power of recklessness and corruption, saying the rot in many of the other opposition parties give an indication of what would happen when they get into power.
According to those who spoke in separate interviews with THE POINT, there is no internal democracy in many of the parties that have labelled themselves credible alternatives to the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress.
To them, many of those who populate the other parties hold on to the “mainly non-existent” structures to negotiate for pecuniary gains during elections.
An Abuja-based political commentator and Convener of Nigerians Arise, Haruna Adeyemo, said the rot in many of these parties was worrisome, especially considering the fact that Nigeria truly needs committed leaders.
“A few days ago, some people came together, saying that they were working out a merger arrangement that would produce a strong Party to dislodge the APC in 2023. But I ask, ‘how well have they cleaned their own house?’ Nigerians need a break from all these politicians,” he noted.
For Ndubuisi Chima, who said he had been a serial House of Representatives aspirant in three different parties, just like the two main parties, internal democracy is non-existent in many alternative parties.
He said, “They are being run like a one-man show, with no true democracy. What we need in Nigeria is for fresh people to hijack the PDP and APC structures. If Bola Tinubu takes his broom away, another main party would emerge. Nigeria will fare better under a two-party system.
“The use of may be two other parties would be to satisfy those who do not get tickets from the two main parties.”
Chima and other analysts like Victoria Udoh Johnson, a rights activist, based in Lagos, based their opinions on what they described as the corrupt practices and lack of decorum also going on in the smaller parties.
“All we need in Nigeria are two strong parties, at most three, to even conserve the money being spent by the Independent National Electoral Commission in ensuring best practices. Parties that are not yet in power and are tearing themselves apart will tear Nigeria apart if given the opportunity, ” Johnson said.
CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS
Giving examples, respondents cited the case of the African Action Congress, which, last Wednesday, called on security agencies in the country to investigate its Presidential Candidate in the 2019 election, Omoyele Sowore, over alleged criminal activities and his utterances and behaviour, which the party said, had become a threat to national security,
The AAC had claimed that Sowore, who is the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, had since been expelled from the party over alleged financial recklessness, misappropriation of party funds, abuse of party constitution, and high-handedness, among others.
National Chairman, AAC, Leonard Nzenwa, while addressing journalists, said Sowore had begun to display psychopathic behaviour after his expulsion in 2019.
He faulted a letter by Sowore to the Independent National Electoral Commission, where he claimed to be the Chairman of the party, saying it amounted to impersonation.
The Action Alliance is also currently enmeshed in a leadership crisis, as two people lay claim to the chairmanship of the party.
Kenneth Udeze was re-elected for a second term in office at a national convention held in Abuja, on Sunday.
Udeze, according to a statement, was re-elected with 160 votes to beat his closest contender, Mrs Uzenuru Nwachukwu, who polled five votes, just as the party purportedly unveiled a roadmap to wrestle power from the ruling APC come 2023.
But another stakeholder, Adekunle Rufai, said, on Monday, that Udeze could not have been re-elected National Chairman since he and “his cohorts” had been expelled by the party for anti-party activities.
Rufai, who alleged that Udeze was currently standing trial before an Osun State High Court, sitting in Osogbo, over allegations of criminal acts, said he remained the only authentic and recognised National Chairman of AA, describing the purported parallel convention, which produced Udeze, as an aberration.
Many of those who have defected from other parties, back to their original parties or to new parties, have also cited crises and lack of internal democracy in these parties, although, many times, these reasons are given because they are allowed in the Constitution.
Should Nigerians then root for a two-party state and seek to chase old, non-peforming politicians away to give the parties fresh breath as suggested? Or should the nation stick with its many parties structure?
The workability of either approach depends on the collective will of the people to change the status quo, observers say.
