A former Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Barrister Festus Okoye had declared that the increasing reliance on consensus options, internal democracy has disappeared within the parties.
He stated this in an exclusive interview with the DAILY TRUST published on Saturday.
The ruling Allah Progressives Congress (APC) leadership had recently announced that it’s ongoing national convention was going to elect it’s next leadership based on consensus.
It also agreed that no leaders would emerge again as President Bola Tinubu remains in power.
Okoye asserted that all the parties are merely existing for existing sake.
He said “I can confirm that any of the existing political parties operate in accordance with the principles of internal democracy.
“Some of their leaders have held power for over a decade and have resisted all efforts to organise elections.
According to him, some of the parties don’t really exist and as a result do not have members.
“Certain parties lack proper structure in various electoral wards. Others have fake membership registers, and some have compiled names and cropped pictures from photo studios to serve as their membership lists.”
Okoye said for the fact that heads of the parties were hand picked by both the president and governors, their leaders cannot do anything on their own or in accordance with party rules and regulations.
“In some parties, the governors exert incestuous influence over the parties. The president also wields influence over his own party. This weakens the parties and is not beneficial to our democracy.”
He traced this practice to the advent of this democracy which began in 1999, saying “since the return to civilian democratic rule in 1999, various presidents and governors have overseen the rise and fall of party leaders.
“They have orchestrated the ascents and descents of Senate Presidents, Speakers of the National and State Assemblies, and Chairpersons of their parties at both federal and regional levels.
“This influence affects all political parties. In some cases, party executives aim to stay in power indefinitely.”
