Anyim says Nigerian political parties are for politicians to grab power

A former President of the Senate, Pius Anyim says political parties in Nigeria have been reduced to platforms for power-hungry politicians to occupy elective positions at the detriment of the people.

Anyim said this on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, in his keynote address delivered at the 2022 Annual Political Parties Summit in Abuja.

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation attributed the infightings and controversies in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the parties’ failure to operate within the norms of democratic principles.

He said, “The complaints of the G5 Governors of PDP is not that the party primary election was faulty, but that the pre and post-primary processes did not guarantee justice to them.

“In APC also, the Christian caucus is aggrieved, owing to perceived injustice following the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Let me therefore say that any failure to democracy starts with the political parties.

“In view of the above, I can safely say that the political parties in Nigeria have helplessly become a platform for powerful politicians to grab power at the detriment of the people.

“The expectation generally is that since the country has embraced democracy, its political parties should as a matter of ideology adopt democratic norms in the administration and management of their party affairs. However, the lack of internal democracy in Nigerian political parties has become a persistent threat to the country’s democracy.

“Various political parties have repeatedly failed to adopt and apply the provisions of their constitutions to all party members who are interested in running for office.”

On the use of technology for the 2023 general elections, Anyim support the call for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to subject the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to third-party evaluation.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is an electronic device introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2021.

This biometric technology was designed to verify Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), and enable human recognition through a biometric verification mechanism, using both fingerprint and facial recognition of voters.