With the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the formation of a political group he called Coalition for Nigeria, that to us signals a possibility of a new political party. His call is coming on the heels of the formation of the National Intervention Movement, NIM led by Olisa Agbakoba. Yet there is another fledgling one called the Red Card Movement led by Oby Ezekwesili. All these are good for political consciousness, but are they good for the development of proper political culture 19 years into our longest run in democratic experiment?
Of course we observe the worries are mounting over the increasing proliferation of political parties in Nigeria as the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, INEC recently issued certificates to 21 parties. This was just in December last year. The new parties have brought the number of political parties in the country to a staggering 67, thereby raising concern on the country’s ability to cope with the logistical demands of such unwieldy number of parties contesting for political offices.
Ordinarily, the numbers of political parties in a country where freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed should be of little concern. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states: “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests.”
This liberal disposition to the registration of parties has been taken advantage of by politicians with the result that the sheer number of parties may soon constitute a source of confusion to voters and pose administrative hurdles for the electoral umpire during national elections. The proliferation of political parties is difficult to understand except in the context of Nigeria’s political history following the lengthy periods of military rule.
There is another vital reason why people form political parties. It is the fact that our larger parties have a way of crowding out people who do not share the same ideas with a particular category of leaders within the party. There is widespread suspicion that governors and the president have perfected the means to dominate the internal workings of big parties to the detriment of other members. This means that members must kowtow to what the governors or president want in order to have a headway within the party. People feel that there is no equity and fair play within major parties.
Parties are also formed as fall back positions by party big wigs should they lose out in the major parties. This kind of mindset is alien to other parts of the world. As we speak, there are no fewer than 115 parties seeking registration as at the end of last year. It was from that number that INEC registered 21. If the agency had accepted to register all the parties, Nigeria would today be contending with nearly 160 political parties.
It is, indeed, troubling that political parties are now viewed as business ventures set up in anticipation of financial offers in return for clandestine endorsements of wealthy candidates running for office. Some of these parties often have nothing on the ground in terms of membership, influence or geographical spread, and may not even have more than a couple of offices in a few cities. Their essential credential is that they are registered political parties, recognised by INEC to compete for power in national elections. This system of selling endorsements can only lead to corruption.
INEC must discourage the use of political parties as tools of monetary speculation by ensuring that already registered parties conform to their internal constitutional provisions. INEC can also get the National Assembly to make laws that will make primaries very competitive. In the same thought, INEC should ensure that electronic voting eliminates rigging. Without rigging parties will be forced to field popular candidates knowing that they are more likely to loose with an unpopular one.
Provisions should be made in our electoral laws for de-registration of political parties which fail to garner a certain percentage of votes cast in a general election, maybe five per cent. Similarly, new parties seeking registration should be made present signatures equivalent to at least one per cent of the votes cast in the last election. That way, the parties would develop a more businesslike approach, cooperate and fuse their ideas together and in general create a more consensual polity which would be good for national integration and cohesion.
