Regardless of the expectation and anticipation with which the new administration in Nigeria is being greeted, there is no better time than now to embark on efforts to address the underlying challenges that have always undermined the credibility of primaries, hopefully by the 2027 election season, relevant legislation and methods will have been duly reformed.
Towards every election season,
people lament the scarcity of suitable candidates for elective positions, which
they also rightly attribute to the systematic manipulation of the party
nomination process by powerful vested interests within the parties, who impose
candidates on the electorate via charades in the name of party consensus or
primaries by some hand-picked party delegates.
Public officeholders and other
party elites use the instruments of power and public resources at their
disposal to ensure the emergence of their political associates, in addition to
themselves, of course, as party delegates with a mandate to elect party
candidates, on occasion typically characterised by systematic vote buying deals
between delegates offering their consciences (if any) for sale. Deep-pocketed
politicians jostle to outbid one another.
That has discouraged many
conscientious individuals with the potential to turn things around in their
respective jurisdictions given the mandate from getting into politics, for they
rightly wouldn’t bootlick any so-called political godfather or bribe any
greed-motivated delegate. After all, many like-minded individuals have ventured
into politics but ended up frustrated at the hands of party manipulators. In
contrast, many others of similar calibre have compromised their moral
principles to join the corrupt elite they have previously often castigated.
Consequently, the electorate is
left with the dilemma of choosing amongst candidates with notorious pasts for
gross incompetence, massive corruption cases, and even court convictions
against many of them. The average voter, therefore, betrays his underlying
frustration by voting for the highest bidder amongst the candidates or voting
for whoever his immediate political master endorses, with some hope that the
candidate will win. His master will be rewarded with some political appointment
or other privileges, for him (voter)
to be occasionally rewarded with peanuts by the master
throughout his stay in office or continuation of his privileges.
Only a few votes with a
conviction may still not be in order anyway, for it might be influenced by one
manipulative tactic or another.
Ironically also, there is general
indifference in all segments of society. Even democratic activists and
advocates for good governance, who are supposed to be particularly committed to
demanding, among other things, the reform of the party nomination process, have
been largely and inexcusably indifferent. They only rant in futility when it’s
too late, i.e. when birds of a feather flock together have emerged as their
respective parties’ candidates. Many have become mere attention-seeking
opportunists hiding behind activism to extort political appointments and other
privileges from the politicians they have criticised in return for their
loyalty.
Even the few voices of reason in
society only urge the electorate to vote for the so-called best of a bad bunch
among the candidates, if any.
Now, until relevant legislation
governing the party nomination process and the methods of conducting it are
reformed in such a way that it guarantees maximum transparency in the process,
the kind of change Nigerians wish for under democracy will never be achieved.
Instead of chasing shadows,
therefore, it’s high time that genuine advocates for good governance and other
concerned groups and associations embarked on a concerted campaign to demand
the reform of relevant legislation to abolish the current corruption-laden
delegate primaries and consensus and adopt a direct and transparent primary
where all party members are eligible to vote, as the only legal method of
nominating party candidates at all levels.
The imperative of demanding such
reform represents a challenge that puts Nigerians’ yearning for good governance
to the test. If the next general election doesn’t achieve the reform, then the
yearning is simply not genuine enough.
However, even when realised, it’s
naive to assume it’s unmanipulable. Vested interests within parties will keep
trying to manipulate it. Yet, when sustained, it will undoubtedly make the
quest for good governance more achievable, enabling people at various levels to
push for and secure the emergence of the best amongst them as parties’
candidates for various elective offices.
That way, Nigerians will be able
to break free from the grip of party delegates to freely elect the calibre of
people with the capacity, credibility, inventiveness, and passion necessary to
turn things around in the country.
Though the beneficiaries of the
status quo will vehemently resist and undermine any attempt to reform it, they
will eventually succumb to the collective willpower of the people, provided
they remain passionate, resilient, and determined enough.
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