WEAK PARTY POLITICS: A RECIPE FOR POLITICS WITH BITTERNESS IN NIGERIA - By Lucas Nwachukwu

The 2019 elections have come and gone but one cannot quickly forget the events that preceded it. It is traditional that prior to the main election, the law demands that parties conduct party primaries which should pass electoral integrity test as contained in the party constitution and Nigeria Electoral Act. There is no gainsaying the fact that there is a very good relationship between sustainable democracy and the existence of ethical party politics. The party system actually helps for the sustenance of democracy.

It is considered a blessing and curse that our daily conversation is inevitably around how politics plays a role in everything we do, it is indeed a truism that the rhythm of politics dominates that of social life. Party politics is the core of the mainstream politics but the process of picking candidates in various parties have been marred by the following factors in recent time, such as, imposition of candidate, violence, inducement of party members, godfatherism and assassination.

Because of these factors, the political parties fail to provide an institutionalized framework from which the society can hold elected persons and governments to account. This shows that our internal party democracy has yet to be rooted in our mainstream politics, and this can only point one way POLITICS WITH BITTERNESS.

The best instance and consequence of imposition of candidates can be drawn from the just concluded 2019 general election where the All Progressive Congress APC could not contest in Rivers State because of a shady internal party process that didn’t comply with the electoral law, and a House of Representative member elect in Adamawa State was sacked in the 2019 election. Political parties play crucial role in bringing together diverse interests, recruiting and sponsoring candidates and developing competing policy proposals that provide people with a choice. There is, therefore, no substitute for open competition between members within political parties in a democracy. This will eliminate the imposition of candidate, thus the best man emerges to steer the mainstream politics which will benefit the people.

In ducement is quite common as well in various parties in the political space, wanting to buy their way through, and this kind of process cannot produce the best candidate, instead it will produce people consumed by self-interests. When we consider the opportunity cost of this act, it is devastatingly huge. Because the conscience is bought, it then cannot be used to elect the right person. When the wrong persons win at the level, it will have ripple effect on the people when that person comes to position of leadership as his/her drive is “self”.

Party political violence also poses a serious threat to the legitimacy of the state and mainstream elections. Many people have been killed as a result of violence linked to elections. The heightened tension created during this period exacerbate existing conflict and end up in killings. In many instances, the perpetrators are not caught, the sponsors and those that carry it out enjoy impunity for their actions. Winning primaries must not be do-or-die. This follows that there is obligations of the government and security forces to prevent and prosecute political violence either at party level or at the general level.

Due to this nature of shallow party politics, many always want to remain in power at all cost and coupled with the lack of ideological orientation, they defect to other political parties that offer them the opportunity to stand for election. The recent wave of cross carpeting from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is a good example. They do this without any sense of responsibility, nor driven with sincerity of purpose but pursuing after their interests alone thereby, undermining and shortchanging the people.

Another practice within the party structure is godfatherism. There is a principal (godfather) that invests in a candidate, this can come in the form of huge monetary investment that aids the candidate to win. Godfatherism in itself is not bad as candidates need guidance and moral support from persons within the party with broad experience but this has been abused and the godfathers now expect to recoup their investments and this puts pressure on the candidate if he/she emerges, they immediately start diverting state resources to the pocket of the godfather, leaving governance to suffer.

The type of Party politics we currently experience is visibly threatening democratic process vis-à-vis the socio-economic lives of the citizenry. If Nigeria is to make progress, the internal politics within party structures must be cleansed of the aforementioned challenges, so that the mainstream democratic institution is strengthened and sustained.

A virile democracy needs strong and sustainable internal political structures within political parties, with the capacity to represent citizens and provide policy choices that demonstrate their ability to govern for the public good. There is need, therefore, to strengthen party politics without bitterness so that they do not constitute a weak link in the democratic process.

All the key players such as the political parties, electoral body, Judiciary, and civil society groups must put their hands on deck to strengthening the democratic system. Party members must remain committed to non-violent approach while upholding the ethics and code of good politicking. There is no doubt that good and deeper party politics will enhance the sustainability of our democracy and the strengthening of the mainstream politics.