The de-registration of twenty eight (28) Political Parties was a wise decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In my opinion, INEC has not done enough in the proscription of political parties; more reduction is to be made. Nigeria is too inundated with political parties without clear vision for the development of the country.
The main aim of a political party is not to generate money for itself in an undemocratic manner at the expense of the masses, but to provide, protect and liberate the masses politically, economically, socially, culturally and religiously.
The contemporary Nigeria party politics have obviously thrown Many Nigerians into pandemonium, instead of political rapture, the reverse is the case.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should please, allow only the viable and well known political parties in Nigeria to operate. If there is any law that permits the existence of superfluous political parties for now in Nigeria, INEC should be review it.
The restriction of political parties to five or four will not be undemocratic or an infringement on the rights of citizens, it is only part of the methods of sanitizing the Nigeria political system.
Abraham Lincoln defined Democracy as “Government of the people by the people and for the people.” This definition could be used in both positive ad negative ways; some people would want to use it to help others, while some will capitalize on it to achieve their selfish. Democracy all in all must be controlled reasonably.
For the fact that the 1999 constitution for now, is the highest law of the land, if the numbers of political parties that would legally be allowed to operate are enshrined in the constitution, politicians would be forced to act within the ambit of the law in the area of party politics. As time goes by, if the need arises politically, the section containing the number of political parties that would be legally allowed to function can be reviewed.
Many political parties that are not yet de-registered by INEC are not supposed to exist, whether they meet requirements of INEC or not. The parties are only there for their own interests, not for the interest of Nigerians as they claim.
Also many political parties in Nigeria were formed by some wealthy individuals who just wanted to be known politically without having the requisite political orientation or understanding that is one of the reasons why they could not maintain an office, thereby making a mockery of the idea of forming a political party.
Some Political parties came into existence with the sole aim of getting contracts, only to step down for a party that is certain to win an election or congratulate in a hurry other parties that are certain win an election.
Majority of the political parties are also being sponsored and used as political tools to cripple or destabilize other strong opposition parties that would have had good developmental plans for the country.
I still remember vividly when the embattled former governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva sensed that his re-election was dicey and uncertain, he quickly decided to sponsor people as gubernatorial standard bearers and running mates in different political parties just to cause political uproar in the State.
The fact that many political parties agreed to be used by former governor Sylva for unnecessary and selfish purposes speaks volume of the degree of undesirability of many political parties that are existing in Nigeria, because by doing that they aided and abetted corruption.
These the same political parties that are enmeshed in corruption, if faced with a little disappointment, will quickly mobilize and incite illiterate, uneducated, uninformed and sometimes even the educated people who are gullible to say all sorts of unpleasant things that are untrue against the ruling government. What a way of making caricature of the Nigerian masses by the few privileged elites.
If the parties were fewer and stronger, Sylva would not have penetrated them the way he did. Though he did not succeed, but many people might succeed with that system to the detriment of the populace.
If the Political parties are just four or five it will be easy for Nigerians to compare and contrast, and decide on which one to support. Many Nigerians may not agree for political parties to be reduced to only five or four because of their selfish interests even if they are sure that it will solve the problem of party politics in the country.
Many people do not like the truth, but let us please, embrace the truth and rescue ourselves from this seemingly intractable political bondage. ####
Daufa E. Bongofanya
Writes from IIJ Abuja, PH Centre
