Lack of Internal Democracy In Parties Nearly Marred 2015 Elections – Jega

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, yesterday said lack of internal democracy in political parties and last-minute substitution of candidates nearly marred the success of the 2015 elections.

He spoke yesterday in Abuja at a two-day stakeholders’ conference on the 2015 elections, organised by the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre (PPLPDC) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), and the UNDP DGD II Project.

Jega, who was represented by Prof. Mohammed Kuna, a commissioner in INEC. He  told participants at the conference, themed: “Political Parties and the 2015 Elections: Lesson Learned and Way Forward” which was  organised to proffer solutions on how to entrench internal democracy in the parties.

“In the commission, we are worried about internal democracy in political parties. We have seen cases of substitution of candidates after the primaries. It is a serious problem for INEC. We had several cases in 2011 and the same thing happened in 2015. I think it is important that we look into it. If you look at political parties across West Africa, the party structures in many countries is better than what we have in Nigeria,” he said.

In his reaction chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and national chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Mallam Yinusa Tanko, called for a total overhauling of the existing Electoral Act, saying stakeholders must sit and agree on certain areas of the Electoral Act where improvements and changes are required.

“We have allowed political parties to be hijacked by individuals. When these individuals take over the structure of the party, they always decide who becomes who. We need to find a mechanism through which political parties will be public-owned institutions. The issue of substitution of candidates comes with Electoral Act. The Act gives a lot of rooms for a number of things. A case in study is Benue State, where people just jump into political parties and grabs the tickets. INEC does not have the powers to effectively manage these things. We are calling for a total overhauling of the Electoral Act,” Tanko said.

Director General of the institute Prof. Tijani Bande said that PPLPDC was established to strengthen the nation’s political parties and their roles as stated in the constitution.