By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche Tuesday said imposition and lack of free and fair primaries led to the collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Hon. Nwuche disclosed this in Ibadan while speaking at the May edition of the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) monthly lecture entitled “Party Primaries and the Quest for Accountability in Governance in Nigeria.”
He quickly advised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to learn its lessons from the ‘collapse’ of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by embracing internal democracy in its affairs.
According to the former Deputy Speaker, imposition and lack of free and fair primaries led to the collapse of the PDP and there is the need for APC to do away with such practice, saying, “I hope the APC can self destruct if it does not manage its success well by making equity and social justice its watch word at all times”.
“I think that the ruling APC and other parties must draw a lesson from this to ensure that the primaries they conduct are free and fair; that people are given the chance; after all democracy is government of the people for the people and not a government by elites or by cabals,” he said.
He maintained that when “party primaries are free and fair, and where there is internal democracy, governance is easier because the people’s wish has been fulfilled as majority of candidates that are produced are well accepted”.
Hon Nwuche noted that “but where people are imposed from the primaries, the foundation of the polity is faulty and gives rise to wrong outcomes in the sense that you get faulty governance from faulty primaries”.
Speaking further, he called on Nigerians to be more proactive in their vote in the future elections and as well protect their votes to ensure that their choice and their wishes translate to those who are elected at the polls, adding, “that way, people are going to be more prone to carry them along, respect their wishes and work for their benefit”.
In his lecture, the guest lecturer, Dr. Hyacinth Nnaoma Iwu of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, had earlier bemoaned what he called the common phenomenon of imposition of candidates by political parties in Nigeria, a development which he said, undermine accountability and good governance.
The lecturer canvassed for the adoption of Option A4 by political parties in the conduct of their primaries to engender accountability while also calling for electoral reform that would permit public servants to be card carrying members of political parties.
