Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has said that party members must not be allowed to ignore party supremacy and rules, adding that elected members who decamp to other political parties must vacate their seats.
He spoke on Monday in Abuja, as a panelist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).
According to him, there must be consequences for members who fail to comply with party rules.
He said “That should not be open for discussion or debate when it happens,” he said, adding that electoral malpractice generally must be punished rather than rewarded.
“These are necessary for political integrity.” He added.
On coalition he explained that opposition parties must realise that it is extremely difficult to dislodge a governing party, however unpopular it may be and however fed up the people may be with it.
“Coalition-building and outright mergers are critical for building the capacity of the opposition to achieve that goal. Our own history and examples from other countries prove that,” he added.
He argued that democracy cannot be sustained without strong political parties, especially opposition parties.
“Parties need to be strong and democratic enough to be able to fulfill their roles. Ownership of parties by or their subordination to individual big men is the antithesis of democracy.
“Party supremacy is critical. But party supremacy can’t be achieved through the current funding model for our parties”
He said funding by governors and a few wealthy individuals is not a democratic model.
“As we know, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Funding must be democratised. Members must invest in and co-own parties.
“When people start from the point of view that “Tinubu is rich or Peter Obi is rich or Atiku is rich, so I don’t have to contribute”, they surrender to the big man’s dominance of parties.
“In more effective democracies, parties and candidates raise funds from the mass of members and supporters.”
He urged citizens to invest in funding their political choices.
“When people invest in something, they tend to be more engaged with it. So, our people, especially party members need to be enlightened.
“The transition to truly democratised parties won’t be easy but must be begun. Could we consider some public (government) funding of parties during the transition period? Perhaps proportionate to each party’s elected officials in the legislatures to avoid parties springing up just to collect public funds?” he quizzed.
Judiciary Is the Biggest Threat to Nigeria’s Democracy
On Judiciary, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that the judiciary is the biggest threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
According to him, the reforms to curb judicial recklessness have yielded no result.
He said: “That must change. The same judiciary that affirmed the primacy of parties in choosing their candidates and leaders now sanctions and indeed promotes the destruction of parties by a few, and in some cases, a single individual with a personal agenda.
“The judiciary also seems to have replaced the voters in choosing our leaders. The involvement of the judiciary in electoral disputes was intended to affirm the choice of voters.
“But the judiciary, even at the highest levels, twists and contorts to find technicalities to deny voters their choice rather than affirming the voters’ choices.
“I know enough of history to understand that when democracy dies, the judiciary and its leadership do not necessarily survive intact.
“The judiciary survived the implosion or death of our First Republic democracy mainly due to the presence of strong independent justices. It wasn’t for want of trying.
“However, as the corruption of every facet of our society deepened, the judiciary soon followed. And it is, perhaps, the most dangerous because there is nowhere else for the aggrieved to turn to,” he said.
He alleged that there was no one to check the excesses of the other branches of government.
“If the rot in our judiciary persists without severe consequence for the perpetrators, our parties and our democracy are unlikely to survive.”
He argued that Nigeria’s democracy is at a crossroads.
“Put simply, it is at the risk of eroding completely. And it is not caused by one single person or one single administration.
“In fact, a number of us have been warning over the years that we may come to this pass if we lose our vigilance and fail to take corrective actions to protect and deepen our democracy,” he said.
He alleged that no other leader has been at the forefront of promoting democracy as much as he does.
He said “At the risk of sounding modest, I doubt that there are many contemporary senior political leaders who have spoken out and done more to promote democratic governance in our country than me. In addition to public statements and presentations, I brought some actions to our courts which produced landmark judicial decisions intended to uphold democratic principles and practices.
“Some of that effort was thrust upon me by circumstances of political struggles. But much of my effort was because of two things: my participation among other leaders in the struggles to ease the military out of power; and my deep and enduring belief that democracy is the best route to development and unity for our diverse country and peoples.”
