Nigeria’s Political Parties Are Lawless – Political Scientists

The Nigeria Political Scientists Association (NPSA) has described Nigeria’s governmental parties arsenic not being law- abiding.

It said the lawlessness of the parties manifested successful their premature campaigns and their difficulties successful opening their fiscal books to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) arsenic required by law.

The relation stated this successful a connection titled ” Reflecting connected Nigeria @65: Political Parties and Democracy” and signed by its president, Prof. Hassan Saliu.

“One yardstick to measurement the interaction of the parties is their grade of respect for the law. Our presumption is that the parties person not been law-abiding, arsenic evidenced by premature campaigns and difficulties successful opening their fiscal books to INEC arsenic required by law. In astir cases, not each organs of the parties conscionable to springiness effect to antiauthoritarian principles.

“Their level of beingness successful the argumentation space: Not overmuch tin beryllium attributed to the absorption governmental parties beyond superficial and personality-focused interventions. While circumstantial governmental figures marque regular interventions, specified interventions are seldom made connected the platforms of their parties. The presumption of well-researched and credible argumentation alternatives by parties is not yet a culture.

“Every predetermination held successful caller times, wherever elector turnout has been low, suggests that parties are not yet afloat alert of their relation successful the antiauthoritarian process. As superior agents for mobilising voters, the parties stock a important work for the debased elector turnout that has been witnessed successful the country.

“Moreover, and rather strangely, their members are often mobilised successful the Nigerian mode to be parties’ functions, alternatively of them doing truthful willingly. However, they parade registers of rank that bash not bespeak the successive elections held successful the country,” NPSA said.

While noting that galore litigations often attended enactment primaries, the relation said that interior ideology is inactive lacking among the country’s governmental parties.

It added: “The improvement of godfatherism dominates their activities, arsenic evidenced by the unfair attraction of astir members and the erosion of a level playing tract for contestants connected the parties’ platforms.

NPSA said that the grounds from its appraisal of governmental parties indicated that they person not been playing their expected roles successful the nation’s democracy.

It noted that the parties person served lone arsenic vehicles for gaining governmental positions successful the country, and soon afterwards, the elected and appointed officers go the masters/lords of the parties that elected them into office, with small accent shown connected promoting modular antiauthoritarian practices, resulting successful a noticeable interaction connected the well-being of the people.

“The representation they person acquired among Nigerians done their activities is that of alien organisations oregon adjacent concealed cults, which are not profoundly rooted successful the people. What often happens is that they due the existent owners of the parties upon being elected into office, owed to the lack of capable feedback mechanisms and reckless entree to the state’s funds,” it added.