Nigeria's parties make identical promises, and that uniformity is easily mistaken for a shared ideology. In my view, they hold no ideology at all, only commitments extracted by the country's deprivation, which none of them is prepared to defend.
The sponsors of political violence must become as vulnerable to the law as the foot soldiers they recruit.
If rigging is a “manufactured outcome,” then it can be countered by deliberate, strategic action.
The current rush to establish new parties is less about ideological conviction or grassroots movements and more about strategic positioning, bargaining leverage, and transactional gain.
Nigeria must strengthen INEC’s independence, provide adequate resources, and ensure that it operates free from political interference.
For Nigeria to progress, it must prioritise leadership development, reform political structures to value competence, and actively involve citizens in cultivating visionary leaders.
Democracy thrives on institutions that remain impartial and strong, but developments in Rivers State threaten critical guardrails like security agencies and the judiciary.
As imperfect as our electoral acts have been, they would have provided better elections if they had been adequately implemented.
If the government does not respond urgently to issues that led to coalescing of forces in the “Obidient movement”, the youth movement will acquire more significant momentum.
Political parties need to do more about voter education, and they ought to take responsibility for voter education.
It is evident that such rented crowds, no matter the visual power they portray, do not translate to voter loyalty or electoral victory.
They must develop real messages that speak to the concerns of those dissatisfied with the country’s current state of socio-economic conditions and provide credible alternative policy roadmap.
A mechanism to track and hold candidates accountable would ensure that promises merely to induce voters are not made and that promises are sincere and well-conceived.
Only by interrogating and engaging the campaign promises of politicians will we start the process of holding them accountable.
My primary concern is not where the VP candidates come from but their suitability.
Every political party in Nigeria should open itself up to allow for more democratisation of the system by allowing for popular participation by reducing the cost of participating in the electoral process.
Parties must never cherry-pick which rules or laws to comply with and which ones to jettison.
Political parties have a crucial role of reining in their proxies and supporters and working with fact- checkers and civil society organisations to put ethical communication principles into practice in a social-media age.
Just like with electronic transmission of results, direct primaries success depends on the implementation. INEC has extended responsibilities of monitoring party primaries, and government should equip it to do so.
I cannot stress enough the need for party members to fund the political parties. This approach is the democratic process and stops party funders from hijacking the party and, in extension, governance.
I advise that the parties’ leadership should do everything possible, as provided in their respective party constitutions and guidelines, to have a transparent congresses/ convention that substantially reflects popular sentiments.
They should channel the enormous energy, organizational capacity and creativity of #EndSARS to form a political movement that would not be characterised by money politics and archaic and corruption-ridden ‘structures’ but by new ideas and new ways of playing politics.