by James Febebebo
To the ordinary observer, Nigeria has a multiparty system which presupposes that there are more than one political party. Even with this presupposition, any keen observer who has carefully watched and studied the political tide as well as outcomes of previous elections, will know and understand that the supposed multi-party system is simply a sham.
When people consider the definition of democracy and relate it to what happens in Nigeria, they will certainly notice lapses and disparities. As defined by former US President, Abraham Lincoln, democracy is “government of the people, by the people and for the people” which when properly analysed produces a situation where the electorate have to vote for candidates of their choice in competitive elections, who, as elected representatives, bring home the dividends of democracy to those who chose them.
A basic feature of democracy is competitive elections where various political parties contest available elective positions in a competitive manner and produce winners cutting across various parties at the end in polls adjudged free and fair. The frequent landslide victories of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in previous elections in the country have raised some dust over Nigeria’s claimed multi-party status.
There seems to be a situation where only the ruling party exists in the ‘flesh’ while all others exist only in name, going contrary therefore to one of democracy’s key prerequisites that there should be competitive elections among different existing political parties.
Several arguments have, however, been made in favour of the ruling party by party faithful, one of which is that the party is the largest in Africa and has therefore in its midst great politicians who are qualified and capable to be elected either as governors or as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This line of argument by supporters of the PDP falsely paints a picture that says only those in the PDP can win elections in Nigeria.
The membership of other parties in the country cannot in any way be said to be poor, as the country’s 150 million people also comprise hundreds of people who neither subscribe to the ruling party’s ideology nor want to be members of the party. This clearly explains that just as there are qualified and successful politicians in the PDP, there are as well other capable and renowned politicians who form the membership of these other parties. For a long time now the ruling party had dominated the political scene in the country and almost forced into oblivion all other parties which seemed not strong enough to face it in the polls. As a result, only the ruling party had stood to gain politically from elections in the country, as the party had claimed almost all available elective positions at the federal, state and local government levels. But the legal tussles which often follow the announcement of victorious PDP candidates are indication that other parties reject the outcome of the elections.
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