''It seems to me that the biggest threat to Nigerian democracy is how our political parties have not been able to extricate themselves from the stranglehold of the damage done to them by the military elite.
This is partly why they are prostrate, redundant, and have failed as intermediaries. Every political party is driven by the ambition of an individual or a cartel. The individuals turn the parties into Special Purpose Vehicles for their own ambitions. They select those who run the parties, and they make the funds available. In the past, the parties existed on an “equal founder, equal joiner basis”.
Members had membership cards and paid membership dues. These days, members wait for a rich individual to fund the party. The man with the deep pocket who funds the party appoints and disappoints as Nyesom Wike did to Prince Uche Secundus, former Chairman of the PDP and Iyorchia Ayu after him, and as Tinubu has done to Senator Adamu who got so bold as to question his ambition at a point.
The men who emerge as party leaders are themselves driven by personal ambition. They want to be big men and hug the limelight. Who knows the Chairman of the Republican Party in the United States? I don’t see the American press discussing the Chairman of the Democratic Party either as an all-year round celebrity. Here, party officials are busy seeking relevance.
When their sponsors win elections or see that they are beginning to develop a mind of their own, they drop them quickly. Parties are useful platforms for winning elections as defined in Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution, but after the party wins, nobody takes party supremacy seriously anymore here, especially in the absence of independent candidacy.
It is assumed that the party Chairman and his allies have been paid for their services.''
Hmmmmm.....NIGERIA!!!
ReplyDeleteMr Abati, in this case, both men were hugely paid. Even LP chair don seriously balance in the billions after forging court seal for those he took money from. The party accounts are empty after raising billions weeks ago and those who sold favor privately in all parties have very happy bankers. You know how it was with your principal, late Kashamu. You also know Hilary Clinton looked to copy our model of buying the party as she did with the democrats to secure her last primaries, Donna Brazille spelt out the tea. Hilary even rented out her product to Comcast on the day of her declaration and the results eve.
ReplyDeleteLeave matter. Ideology is not the background of any party in Nigeria. If you want the special purpose vehicle to move, buy fuel is the current name of the game.