2019 elections and the party system

Mr. Jibrin Ibrahim is right that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot help but comply with the court orders to register political parties, regardless of the principles guiding the system. Most of the existing political parties in Nigeria have not fulfilled their requirements, yet they pretend that all is well and they are officially […]

Mr. Jibrin Ibrahim is right that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot help but comply with the court orders to register political parties, regardless of the principles guiding the system.

Most of the existing political parties in Nigeria have not fulfilled their requirements, yet they pretend that all is well and they are officially recognised.

Unfortunately, Nigerians are at the mercy of these political parties that lack ideas and ideologies, programmes and good strategies. They do not even have manifestoes.

This is what gave birth to the confusion we witnessed in the National Assembly, where strange bedfellows formed leadership. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) does not have control of the leadership of the Senate, rather, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been in charge of legislative matters.

There is no decorum or party discipline in the madhouse called National Assembly. We pray that the next parliament would be different. There is the need for a total overhaul of the Nigerian political scene with a clearly defined party system.

Dr Saidu Samaila
[email protected]