There is no way around fixing the challenges of Nigeria’s democracy without first fixing Nigerian political parties.
I carefully observed the APGA screening exercise for aspirants on Monday and Tuesday, ahead of the 2027 General Elections, and having observed this same exercise in the past few elections, I must say that a few things stood out this time around to the point that the aspirants themselves voluntarily attested that the process was transparent. In Nigerian politics, it is often very difficult for an aspirant to commend the system, except he or she has expressly and unequivocally been declared the winner. But, again, this is different. The National Leader of APGA, and Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has quietly silenced a longstanding political decay and fraudulent web in the pretense of politics in APGA. That system has now collapsed under the weight of a serious and well-thought-out process on how best to manage with dignity, the affairs of APGA during elections.
My first observation is that the influence of money in the process has been reduced to zero in APGA. For context, in the past, APGA screening used to be a critical web of extortion. Aspirants were required to buy delegate forms across wards in their constituency and pay directly to the party account, which they obliged. This, at least, still ran into a few millions. Yet, during screening, they are coerced into buying another set of forms and instructed to pay in cash. In fact, in 2019, aspirants paid for these forms over three or four times and still didn’t get them till they had figured out other means to get them through paying more to third parties in hotels in Awka. Then, for submission of documents, aspirants were asked to attach “kola,” literally, an amount of money in cash, the volume of which depends on the office one aspires to. The higher the office one aspires to, the bigger the kola. All these webs of fraud and extortion were normalized, and people never complained except that, in the end, it failed to go their way.
The other thing is that aspirants were only required to buy expression of interest forms. Making oneself available to serve is not a bounty on his pocket or blood. But in the past, aspirants were required to buy both nomination and expression of interest forms at very high costs. These schemes were deliberately designed to defraud people aspiring to serve. This is the legacy most Nigerian political parties have bequeathed to our democracy, and it is seen as normal.
APGA did something different this time. Aspirants were only required to buy expression of interest forms. Then, the aspirants were interviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, and absolutely no other money was required from any aspirant. They simply walked in and got interviewed, and they walked out. This is nothing, nothing at all short of a grand revolution. The process was quiet, organized, noiseless, and seamless. However, it is strange for those used to the old order in APGA during screening, where chaos and all manner of disorder were a part of such a crucial political process. A process designed for aspirants to service the financial needs of not only party officers, but their aides and all those attached to them, etc.
I think that important changes like these ought to be noted and publicly commended, just as past extortions were observed and publicly condemned. APGA has indeed undergone significant reform under its current leadership.
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