Nigerian Political Parties Lack Internal Democracy------ Akinola

A public affairs analyst and social commentator, Mr Olabode Akinola said on Thursday that political parties in Nigeria lacked internal democracy.
Akinola stated this at a seminar organised by civil society group at Ile-Ife with the theme: “Internal democracy, the bedrock of participatory democracy’’.

According to him, many of the political parties in Nigeria came on board at the inception of this dispensation unprepared.
“The democratic experiment of this fourth republic came up with a lot of mess among which is the formation of political parties without clear-cut philosophy and ideology.
He however berated the manner in which the leading opposition parties presently run the affairs of the parties where a godfather dictates the pace.
He said, “13 years down the line, we have not been able to see vibrant opposition which is rooted in democratic ethos and internal democracy.
“Although many of them claimed to have been founded on clear-cut ideologies and all that, but none of them has been able to display this virtue in the way they run the affairs of the parties.
“The situation where a godfather dictates who gets what, how and when is a total aberration of an ideal opposition that knows its onus,’’ he said.
Dr Rotimi Igbalajobi, another analyst, expressed worry over what he described as a dangerous trend of events in the political arena.
According to him, opposition parties over the time have made the polity more tensed rather than providing an alternative for the electorate through logical and confusing ideas.
He said that the essence of an opposition party in a democratic environment is to mobilise people through enlightenment   campaign and deepen their level of political education.
These fundamental obligations, according to him have been discarded by the opposition parties by embarking on campaign of calumny and acrimony, which continued to heat up the polity.
He thereafter called on both the ruling and the opposition parties to base their discussions and campaign on issues of paramount interests to the populace rather than destructive criticism and acrimony.