One of the fratricidal factors bedevilling Nigeria’s wobbling democratic process is the gross lack of internal party democracy. Unfortunately, it has contributed to the serial emergence of the wrong candidates -for all manner of posts – right from the political party level.

And once this succeeds the pendulum of allegiance of such candidates’ swings away from the expected respect for the party’s electoral guidelines as well as the constitution in favour of the overbearing influence of the political godfathers.

Such a sordid situation kick-starts the journey of the favoured candidate to selfservice, away from the dictates of the laid down principles of the political party in question.

The implications are grave and foreboding, worse still for the masses who are supposed to benefit from the dividends of democracy, right from the local government level through the state to the Federal Government.

According to the two-time senator, author and professor of law, Oserheimen Osunbor the situation that has chairmen of some political parties out rightly subverting their own party’s constitution with crass impunity and going away with it is not only unacceptable and objectionable but not sustainable.

He has therefore, stressed the imperative of going further than improving on the Electoral Laws to that of doing much better with our electoral process, beginning of course, right at the political party level.

For instance, despite our several lawmakers coming up with Electoral Acts 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010 and that of 2022 the menace of electoral malpractices keep rearing its ugly head. What all these mean to us is the need to walk the talk on the enforcement of the Electoral Acts, right from the doorsteps of political party leadership.

They should respect their party’s electoral process and stop bowing to undue pressure, influence as well as inducements from the political godfathers. Rather than subverting the rule of law and washing their hands off the premeditated violation of the process and telling the aggrieved candidates “to go to court” to seek for justice, they should stand firm on the rule of law.

If not done, and with the emergence of the wrong candidates, as against the wishes of the vast majority of the members of the political parties, good governance is thereby compromised.

We call on the judiciary to rise up to the occasion and do the needful, lest the country turn into a Banana republic where powerful individuals become the law…

That brings to bear the cardinal role of the judiciary in adjudicating; to ensure that justice is served. But the contrary situation has worsened becoming the rule rather than the exception.

For instance, over the years the list of politicians who lost elections at the polls but got declared by the courts as winners has elongated!

Similarly, the judiciary has not amply demonstrated its statutory role to enforce the provisions of political party’s constitution and guidelines, which are contractual in nature.

As a bold step forward, we call on the political party helmsmen to shift their focus on strengthening the internal party democracy for more reasons than one.

Firstly, it would foster internal cohesion, offer free access to members to vital information, encourage them to participate in decision making, enhance their respect for the party’s constitution, as well as bolster their confidence in their rights. With all these values in place there will be a strong approach to handling their grievances, when such take place.

At the end of the day, it would lead to the choice of candidates squarely based on merit, competence, and respect to the party’s electoral guidelines.

That is, instead of being based on the self-serving bidding of some political godfathers, kowtowing to their whims and caprices to further deny Nigerians their quest for the long sought after good governance.

Now, more than ever before is the time for the judiciary to enforce the compliance and respect of the political party’s constitution on the leadership, in line with the existing laws.

Once done, the right candidates will not only emerge but would be compelled to abide by the rule of law which they swear to uphold, defend and protect.

The importance of this assertion can be drawn from the research conducted on the practice of internal party democracy in Nigeria, as conducted by the trio of Ufuoma Awhefeade, Edward Okumagba and Patrick Alaomah and published in the ‘Journal of Liberty and International Affairs’ in July,2023.

Indeed, it clearly revealed that most political parties in Nigeria were not doing so, as legally enshrined in Sections 68(1) and 109(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). This has led to the loss of the voters’ confidence in the electoral process and the consolidation of Nigeria’s democracy.

From the foregoing, we call on the judiciary to rise up to the occasion and do the needful, lest the country turns into a Banana republic where powerful individuals become the law and ride roughshod over the wishes of the people, to whom democracy belongs.

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