Political parties in the New Year

By Cosmas Attaiyi-Elaigu

Bisi Akande

Political parties the world over are regarded as pillars of neo-lib- eral democracy, providing the platform on which candidates launder themselves to the electorate. Based on this ideal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered 50 political parties which sought relevance during the April 2007 general elections. Of course, only a few of the political organisations, namely the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and the Action Congress (AC), provided a semblance of parties working for the people’s mandate.

Commentators on the country’s political process, however, have divergent views on the definition of parties as agents of civil administration. According to the Country Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, political parties in the country lack the requisite ingredients for genuine democratic culture. ‘’They lack internal democracy, hence, a few members use money and influence to circumvent the wishes of the majority. “There is no transparency and accountability in their operations,’’ he said.

Other persons argue that the parties were in existence because of the mandatory grants which government gave them for their operations. In the 2008 budget proposal, INEC has set aside N600 million as grant to political parties. In 2007, political activities, however, were full of contradictions at the level of political parties, the electoral process, as well as the executive and legislative arms of government. The electioneering campaigns that led to the polls were full of undemocratic practices, including planned assassination of opponents, the use of instruments of power against perceived enemies, the use of money and force and alleged complicity of INEC. The elections themselves were roundly criticised as largely flawed by both local and international monitors despite the insistence by the Chairman of INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, that the process was the best the country could have considering the circumstances.

Iwu told a visiting delegation of registered political parties that the 2007 general elections were better than the much talked about June 12, 1993 polls. It is, however, instructive to say that President Umaru Yar’Adua had, during his inauguration on May 29, admitted that the polls were full of irregularities, promising to reform the electoral process for future elections. This he started in August 2007 by setting up the Electoral Reform Committee headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Uwais, with membership drawn from the civil society, the media, the academia and the public service. The ruling PDP won 30 states during the April polls, with the ANPP getting Borno, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi and Yobe states, while the PPA clinched Abia and Imo states. Just as the new administration was about to settle down, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment on a case filed by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) over the previous governorship election in Anambra State, and Mr. Peter Obi was sworn in as the new helmsman in place of PDP’s Andy Uba.

The Supreme Court also upturned the election of Mr. Celestine Omehia as governor of Rivers State and ordered the inauguration of former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, because of procedural flaws in fielding candidates by the PDP. Election petition tribunals have equally quashed the governorship polls in Kogi and Adamawa states, both won by the PDP, for the reason that INEC denied the ANPP and AC candidates the opportunity to participate in the contest as provided for in the Electoral Act 2006. Apart from the pending presidential election petitions at the Court of Appeal, more governorship elections are being challenged at the tribunals, while many federal and state legislative election results have been voided. Reacting to the judicial decisions on the outcome of the polls, PDP’s National Chairman, Chief Ahmadu Ali, said the party would comply with verdicts of the judiciary.

“We will appeal to the highest court in the land where we are convinced otherwise about our cases,’’ he said. Dramatically, the PDP remains victorious in all the states that have so far conducted local government elections, scoring nearly 100 per cent in Ebonyi, Kwara, Oyo, Enugu, Ondo, Osun and Cross River states. Despite its successes, however, the ruling party is faced with several frictions at both national and state levels, arising from alleged imposition of policies, candidates and appointees. The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP had cause within the year to set up a reconciliation committee under the leadership of former Vice President, Chief Alex Ekwueme, to harmonise feuding camps within the party. The committee has since turned in its report, but its contents have remained classified.

Feelers have it that while some old members accepted Ekwueme’s intervention and returned to the fold, some insisted on structural reform as a condition for genuine reconciliation. On the side of the opposition, internal squabbles and battle for recognition have dominated intrigues in their democratisation process. Apart from leadership friction, allegations of maladministration and financial irregularities are rocking some of the opposition parties. These factors have whittled down their activities, hence, the lack of quality opposition craved by the electorate to keep the ruling party in check. These crises abound in the ANPP, APGA, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the African Liberation Party (ALP), AC and Labour Party, among others. Some aggrieved members in the parties have gone to court to seek legal redress, while others adopted violent methods of settling scores or resolving their intra-party disputes.

While some political analysts say that the crises are the tonic and spice of democracy, others believe that they are destroying the system. It remains to be seen how politicians will practise party democracy so as to deliver the gains of democracy or impact positively on the lives of the people in the new year. Of course, like in other climes, it is expected that after years of hiccups, the political system in the country will stabilise.

Attaiyi-Elaigu is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)