•Nigerian political parties
As the country prepares for another round of elections and some parties struggling to get their leadership right, there are parties, whose chairmen have remained the same since they were formed.
In some of the parties likely to participate in the 2027 general elections, it is hard to distinguish between the parties and their national chairmen. This stems from the fact that some of the chairmen have held unto the position for long.
Analysts contend that party structures are relevant as they are the only platforms that can present candidates for elections, reports Weekend Trust.
Though there has been clamour for independent candidates, the demand is yet to see the light of day.
In the 2023 general elections, 18 political parties participated, fielding candidates at various levels to compete for political offices including that of president, governors as well as national and state assembly seats.
On Thursday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cleared eight associations to move on to the next state for registration as political parties.
If all get the nod of INEC, it will bring the number of parties that will be contesting for various seats in 2027 to 26.
With some parties retaining their national chairmen for more than a decade, some say the political space may be constricted as it gives only a few the chance to contest.
Observers say further to that, it makes it difficult for internal democracy to thrive.
The trend, our correspondents observe, is obtainable more in the parties usually classified by Nigerians as smaller parties for having the least number of elected officials after elections.
The bigger parties which dominate the scene through either having won or are occupying the presidency, many governorship, National and House of Assembly seats are, however, not included in this category as they go through the process of holding elective congresses and rotating positions and according to geopolitical zones.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) for instance, has had no less than nine national chairmen since inception while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has had cause to change its chairmen a record 14 times.
Parties such as the Social Democratic Party; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; Action Democratic Congress, ADC etc have also democratized positions in line with what the majority of party members expect.
Parties like the African Action Congress, AAC; Action Democratic Party, ADP; Peoples Redemption Party, PRP; Zenith Labour Party, ZLP and Young Progressives Party (YPP) fall into the category of parties with longest serving chairmen.
Some of them have had changes in their parties’ structure only once since inception while others have not bothered to effect any change.
A political scientist at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Isa Saidu, said this is against the tenets of democracy as parties because Nigeria is practicing a multi-party democracy.
He said, “This in my view will lead to the diminishing of democratic ideals, especially the liberal democracy that we practice in Nigeria, which is supposed to give opportunities and provide spaces for all citizens, especially members of political parties.”
National chairman of the ADP, Sani Yabagi, however, explained that it is in the bid to strengthen new parties that their leaders are enabled to stay for long.
“Our party for instance; it is in the constitution that at least you are allowed to have your convention on a non-elective basis. All the members can agree that okay, let the structure of the party be formed, and when you have the structures formed. You cannot go into elections immediately, otherwise you will scatter the party and the structures.
“So, in a way it is meant to strengthen democracy that is why some of us are still there as chairmen of these political parties”, he said.
In both the 1st and 2nd Republic many founders of political parties held on to the leadership of their parties.
Incidentally, the ownership of political structures is one of the reasons former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, decided that it was better for the government to establish parties for politicians to enroll so that no one could claim them.
During the General Sani Abacha era, the government infiltrated the five existing political parties and they were on the verge on adopting the then head of state as their presidential candidate before his demise.
The government of Abdulsalami Abubakar handed over three parties to the succeeding political administration in 1999.
But before 2007, the space was freed enabling more parties to participate which enabled parties such as AC, PPA, APGA, DPP and others to be established.
Along the line, the number of political parties became so many that some had to be deregistered.
The high interest in registering parties is said to because the government then was paying the parties certain amounts of money ahead of elections.
After the deregistration due mainly to inability to win a single seat in elections, the number thinned.
But it ballooned again in 2019 with more association’s coming forward to be registered.
By the 2019 elections, the number of parties on the ballot papers was no less than 90 when in reality only five were active or participated fully in the elections. This was later scaled down to 18.
In the current dispensation where people freely forward their political associations for registration to the electoral body some have remained within the grip of certain forces.
The parties insist there are no constitutional impediments against holding national chairmanship for long.
The parties
The AAC was founded in 2018. It had Leonard Nzenwa as its pioneer chairman.
He was, however, replaced by Omoyele Sowore who more or less is the face of the party. Sowore has been running as the party’s presidential candidate and has remained the national chairman.
Attempts to speak with Sowore on the matter failed as he directed our correspondent to the party instead.
ADP
Yabagi Yusuf Sani has been the national chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) just as he has been the presidential candidate.
Founded 2017, the party has been participating in elections since then.
Yabagi insists it is in the interest of the party that he holds the position of the natural chairman, saying it facilitates stabilisation of the party.
He says, “But even common sense dictates that you can’t just form a party and then start changing leadership. The party will not have a strong base.”
YPP
Emmanuel Bishop Amakiri is the founding chairman of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) after he co-founded the party in 2017.
He says, “So long as the party members vote you, fine. And we had a convention in 2019 where I was elected unanimously, for first term.
“Then 2023 was the same thing, you know. I’m now serving my second term. And according to the party constitution, I’m not restricted to a second term.”
ZLP
Dan Nwanyanwu was chairman of Labour Party, LP, for ten years. He later resigned his membership of the party after serving as chairman of its Board of Trustees.
He joined the Zenith Labour Party in 2018 and remains the national chairman of the party.
Efforts to speak with him proved abortive due to constant breaks on the line the several times our correspondent tried to reach.
He promised to take a look at the message sent to him as he was busy but did not get across up to the time of filing this report.
