By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Many of us can easily spot erosion of ‘internal party democracy,’ but it is not so easy to proffer pragmatic alternatives suitable within the realities of our experience. Let’s even interrogate the entire concept of internal party democracy. Is there any political party, big or small, that has not carefully planned its candidate selection process to yield to specific aspirants? There is no political party that leaves its selection process open such that any participant in that process can win the party’s mandate for a general election. There are several reasons for this, including party funding and the fact that all members of a political party have no equal standing in the party.
What has happened is that Governor Soludo has introduced an Electoral College indirect primary system in APGA, and this does not negate internal party democracy within the realities of party management in Nigeria. Both in a direct or indirect primary, including in the Electoral College system that has now been introduced by Soludo in APGA, aspirants leverage influence, proximity to power, commitment to the party, among others, as their currency to emerge. No primary election is truly free of internal or external machinations that give an advantage to one aspirant over others. Only an aspirant must emerge to fly a party’s flag for an elective office, and that is why party democracy is a lot different and never left open. Yet, it can be seen that this Electoral College system has reduced the influence of money in Anambra’s mainstream party politics. It has also reduced the bitter disputes and divisions in the party after primary elections, thereby strengthening APGA’s chances during the general elections. This can be seen during last August’s Anambra South by-election in which all former aspirants for the position teamed up and worked for the party’s candidate.
However, the Electoral College system introduced by Governor Soludo in the APGA primary election has raised a lot of concerns regarding internal party democracy in APGA. This might suggest that observers expect the governor, who doubles as the National Leader of APGA, to throw the primary contest ‘open’. But, is there truly an open primary election? There is none. If Soludo had not introduced the college system, what would have happened is that some party leaders or government officials would form a gang and begin to rip off aspirants with a promise to each aspirant to develop a delegate list that is designed to put them ahead, but eventually, the delegate list would be developed to put the highest bidder ahead of others. A very dangerously corrupt process where nothing matters except how much a man is willing to give for the ticket of the office he aspires to. Is that an open contest?
If the party opted to go for a direct primary, which, remarkably, is a much more transparent process, the challenge again is that the party might end up not rewarding its most loyal or best members vying for a position. Instead, the flag again would be handed to the highest bidder with the most robust machinery to grease the palms of eligible party members who are the voters, and also party leaders along the chain. Party primaries in mainstream political parties like APGA are an elaborate fraud with diverse layers of massive inducements, often packaged in different guises. To that extent, in reality, there are no open primaries. Such a system with random outcomes would never sufficiently strengthen a political party’s growth agenda. There must be some kind of deliberate picking of contestants by a party to determine who best represents its ideals and growth agenda. Most times, what many regard as a free and open contest for a ticket of a mainstream political party is a criminal package designed to deplete aspirants who end up wasting humongous resources on the primary election, leaving them near-broke in prosecuting the General Election. Worst still, leaving the party deeply fragmented and unable to put up a single, firm front during the General Elections.
In contrast, in the past, APGA went through a season where local government elections would be announced, and aspirants would buy nomination and expression of interest forms. But the election would be postponed, and the funds expended by aspirants on forms were never refunded. This happened during the time Mr. Peter Obi was governor and National Leader of APGA, while Senator Victor Umeh was the National Chairman of the party. Throughout that dispensation, the party could not produce a single senator. More recently, during Chief Willie Obiano’s dispensation as the National Leader of APGA, while Chief Victor Oye was the party’s National Chairman, APGA rose again to the limelight. But excessive monetization of party tickets quickly destroyed the party’s prospects in places like Imo during the 2019 election cycle. In Anambra State, it was the same, forcing aspirants like Late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah to quit APGA and join YPP. The outcome for APGA was abysmal. Throughout that dispensation, APGA was unable to produce a senator for Anambra, except through the court’s intervention in the case between Senator Victor Umeh and Senator Uche Ekwunife. Basically, the alternative to this Electoral College is that the APGA would pretend to organize an open primary, and aspirants would jump in to buy forms – expression of interests and nomination. Thereafter, they pay for delegate forms, running into multiple millions, depending on the modalities set by the party. Then, they move to bribe their way through so that the delegate list would favour them. Finally, they buy delegates on the primary election day. Each delegate can be bought for as much as over a million, depending.
It is, therefore, a disservice for anyone conversant with this to pretend that the Electoral College system introduced by Soludo has not been innovative, as it directly addresses some fundamental rot within the party primary echo system in APGA, and generally, in the management of party affairs in the candidate selection process.
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