Dogara hits political parties, Says APC, PDP, others parade fake manifestos

From Ajansii Mgbo

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has descended heavily on political parties in Nigeria, describing them as weak, deceitful and lacking in transparency and accountability.

Delivering an address at a 2-day retreat organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Abuja on Monday, on the theme, “The Dynamics of Managing Political Parties Professionally,” he said political parties should, as a matter of urgency, give professionals versed in the intricacies of governance to chart a new course in party management so as to engender a transparent and accountable system.

Dogara, who was represented by the Minority Whip, Hon. Yakubu Barde, advised political parties to entrench polices and strategies that would help build a stronger and vibrant opposition.

“The lack of ideologies and policies formulation in the context between political parties, limited ability of opposition to compete with the ruling party at the level of individual party capacity, the number of challenges we have also seen are the lack of inclusiveness, policies and manifestos and development process that will provide a clear policy framework.

“These include lack of an inclusive and research based policy and manifesto development process that provides a clear policy framework for them to govern, lack of ideological or institutional identities, and limited competence in research and analysis that looks at their own performance and supports clear plans and strategies for building the party.

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“These apparent weaknesses of political parties in Nigeria underline the need for reform and professionalism. By professionalism, we mean an institutional process by which professionals become more central to the running of our parties. Currently, our parties in Nigeria could do with better professional organisation if their operations.

“It is important that we organise our political parties along the lines of proper functioning bureaucracies, set up functional organizational structures and hire professionals to run the administrative aspects of the parties we support party leadership in the general running of our parties”, he stated.

Dogara continued, “It is worthy to mention that in an attempt to either capture or hold on to power, some political parties have sometimes embellished their manifestos with unrealistic promises.

“It is a political malpractice for an elected government to govern without reference to the manifesto that was placed before the voters which essentially formed the basis of their election. Political parties must ensure that they relate their manifestos to a strategic framework which carry the development vision of the entire nation.

“For political parties to be influential and effective to the contribution of good governance, they must start by promoting the culture of good governance through the entrenchment of inter party democracy which will consequently which will lead to a stronger democratic culture in the wider society.

“This can be reflected in the way party leaders and candidates for elections are elected. How party policies are set and how members are managed, behave and how conflicts are managed.

“Internal party democracy must be a priority to the effort to restore public confidence in political parties in our democratic process.”

Dogara also advised Nigerians to fully participate in electoral process, such as getting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and voting during election.

“Greater citizens participation, accountability of leadership, transparency and institutional steadfastness are now more important for the democratization of political parties, Dogara stressed”, he said.

Piqued by the side-lining of women and youths, he warned political parties to play politics of adequate inclusiveness of women and youths, stressing that abandoning women and youth would pose great danger for political parties while undermining the role of women in governance.

“The participation of women in interparty is an indispensible component of equal opportunity and should be imbibed and entrenched by parties.”

Speaking, Senate President Bukola Saraki harped on inclusiveness in the management of political parties in the country, noting that there was need to bring on board vulnerable groups in political management in the interest of the nation’s democracy.

Represented by Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdullahi Sani, the Senate President said, “We must appreciate and understand the roles of political parties in a democratic society like Nigeria. Since our return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria has registered hundreds of political parties which are platforms for seeking political offices as prescribed by the 1999 Constitution.

“Many have argued that the parties have adopted an elite structure aimed at checkmating the influence of the masses. I cannot say this is further from the truth. This is because participation is the key ingredient for acknowledgement or acceptance.

“In other to strengthen our democracy and make it more representative of our demographic spread, it is important that we work to actively bring in more vulnerable and underrepresented groups to actively participate in the political system.

“The youth, women and people living with disability are groups who must be actively engaged and effectively mentored for leadership in both the local, state and federal levels. We must break down all barriers that limit participation and whole heartedly embrace new entrants into the political space.

“That is why the National Assembly passed the not too young to run and independent candidacy clauses during our constitution review exercise. We must realize that the more people we have participating in our politics, the wider the field and the better and more refined the candidates.”

 

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