As Nigerians prepare for the forthcoming 2015 February elections, various candidates vying for public offices have, expectedly, been running campaigns through their individual political parties. In a bid to meet deadlines set by election umpire for parties to submit candidates' names, political parties organised their party primaries for the various available political offices (presidential, governorship, etc.) in most states across the federation.
In its quest for democratic consolidation and other related matters, HEDA Resource Centre, through its twitter handle (@HEDAgenda), hosted Mr Kayode Ogundamisi, on its weekly tweet chat session (#MondayTango) to review process, conduct and outcomes of the Primaries conducted by the two major parties in the country (PDP and APC). Mr Ogundamisi, a Nigerian-born British, based in London is a pro-democracy activist with experience spanning over decades in advocacy for good governance. In response to questions, Mr. Ogundamisi declared support for the country’s gradual movement towards a two-party political system. He explained that this gradual development is a sign of progress in the country’s political system and that the system would encourage Nigerians to make an easy choice ‘between the UGLY and NOT SO UGLY’.
Mr. Ogundamisi, in his assessment of Lagos gubernatorial primaries, organised by the major political parties, (APC and PDP), declared that the reaction of the party members who contested in the primaries clearly shows internal party Organisation of the parties. According to him, while those who contested within the APC seem ‘fairly satisfied with the results’, and ‘congratulated each other’, the case with PDP was a different ball game. He explained that the failure in the organisation of the PDP governorship primaries is evident through the ‘lawsuits and insults’ demonstrated by aggrieved contestants who took part in the primaries.
Having rated the conduct of the gubernatorial primaries organised by both the PDP and the APC in Lagos, Mr. Ogundamisi rated the APC presidential primaries, recently held in Lagos. In his words, the APC presidential primaries is ‘gold standard’ and compared the primaries ‘against the backdrop of chaotic PDP's ratification’. Mr Ogundamisi also measured the success of the APC presidential primaries based on the satisfaction, positive reaction and acceptance of the results by the contenders, and he specifically applauded the positive reaction of one of the contenders, the country’s former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, despite his failure to clinch the party’s presidential ticket.
On the general lessons learnt from the conduct of both party primaries, Mr Ogundamisi stated that ‘Nigerians can no longer be taken for granted or lied to’, as they, ‘are (now) watching and participating FULLY in this coming election’.
Mr. Ogundamisi, in his response to the question on the imposition of candidates within political parties, explained that the choice of democratically selecting a consensus candidate by members of a political party is allowed by the country’s electoral body: the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but he condemned the abuse of this freedom, which according to him is evident in the imposition of candidates by some political bigwigs. He referred to this imposition as illegal and undemocratic, and cited the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the former Nigerian president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as examples of those guilty of this imposition.
Mr. Ogundamisi, also stressed the need to discourage the inclusion of religious and ethnic sentiments in politics and advised that ‘electorates must rise against the use of religious/ethnic sentiments in politics’, as,‘hunger does not have religion’.
Mr. Ogundamisi condemned the rampant buying of delegates that was evident in the recently held primaries of both the parties under review. He explained that this buying of delegates only happens ‘when people cannot contest fair and square’.
On the involvement of a large number of celebrities in politics, Mr Ogundamisi, stated that ‘celebrities/entertainers are Nigerians’, hence are free to contest for political offices where eligible. Mr Ogundamisi was enthusiastic that Nigerians are now better informed and would base their votes in 2015 more on the conscience than sentiment. In his words, he stated that ‘Nigerians will base their votes on firsthand experience’ and ’stories of shoes when there is darkness and hunger won’t cut’.
On the question of whether the incumbent at the National level could be defeated, Mr. Ogundamisi stated that if INEC holds a free and fair election in 2015, ‘the reign of terror since 1999 will stop’, and the incumbent at the national level will be defeated.
Mr. Ogundamisi explained that while he is hopeful that INEC is capable of running a free and fair election in 2015, he is also skeptical about their performance. His skepticism is informed by the not too impressive performance of the body in the distribution of Permanent Voter Card across the country which he described as 'bumpy'.
Mr. Ogundamisi ended the chat session with an advise for the youths. He charged the young people to ‘take charge of (their) future; register, collect (their) permanent voters card, (and) monitor the performance after election’. He concluded ‘young people should not mirror the corrupt leaders we have in the country, but they should try to ‘mirror incorruptible leaders’.
Firdaws Ibrahim
Communication Officer.