—— Says parties must stand for values that reflect the aspirations of the people and ensure accountability in governance.
A Public Affairs Analyst and Member, Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria, Enugu State Chapter, Emeka Odom, made this known while speaking on a topic “Party Politics and 2027 Election Timetable: INEC Regulations and Party Compliance,” on Freedom Square, a programme on Solid FM, 100.9, anchored by Uchenna Cyril Anioke.
Odom stated that parties should serve as the centre point of ideology, policy formulation, and political governance rather than merely existing as platforms for contesting elections.
He noted that strong political parties are essential for national development because they help shape the vision, principles, and programmes that guide elected leaders in office.
According to him, “political parties are supposed to be the Centre point of ideological differences as long as a political governance is concerned. There are people who believe that everything you do in government must centre around interest. These are people regarded as populist and there are people who also believe that you must make money for the country no matter what happens. The money that the country has, people should be able to work, pay tax to make sure that the country has money, these are people regarded as the hardcore economists and self-centric people. Now when you come to public governance, these people join with others in a clearly demarketed point of view and in which case, when election comes, you will know where they belong. For instance in the first Republic you look at Amino Kano, you will know that this man is a people oriented politician. This is a man that if tomorrow the government wants to make a policy that will increase hardship on the side of the people, he will not agree and if anybody joins him in his party, they are like minds. But today what we have , you can’t even say that this politician is a populist or that he is not. The party they join today is just difference in nomenclature but in real ideology or what they believe in, I can’t see any difference. That is why it is easy as ABC for someone to move from party A to party B without thinking about it as far as that party is going to guarantee him ticket to the next election.”
Odom further noted that when political parties are built on sound ideology, citizens are better able to identify with their policies and make informed choices during elections.
He therefore called on political leaders to strengthen party structures and promote internal democracy for the overall growth of the nation’s political system.