By John Amoda

AFTER  going round and round the problem we find ourselves facing the root cause of the problem of democracy in Nigeria, namely: The objective of Nigeria’s constitutional politics.

The objective of this politics is the running of a pre-existing government with its security services. This politics was the outcome of decolonization, Nigeria style. Fifty years ago, the British Imperial Flag was lowered and the New Nigeria Flag of “Independent” Nigeria was hurled up.

The British apparatuses of government were to be incrementally “Nigerianised”, and the politicians’ politics as regulated by constitution was to compete for authority to administer the government through elections won.

The British Colonial State and Government ruled a society economically constituted as a tributary of the British Imperial government and economy. At independence the function of the colonial state and government reminded the same and so was the colonially configured Nigerian society.

The story of the past 50 years has been how politicians have governed, led or ruled the Nigerian society and to what developmental and democratic nation building effect. In this piece we addressed the constitutional provisions for competition among politicians for control, reform and administration of the government whose existence is not determined by elections.

The constitutional provisions for rulership in Nigeria are political parties and the constitution has made the formation of parties wholly a private investment. Where this is the case the electoral uses of political parties are structurally private and entrepreneurial. We can thus trace the root causes of issues of internal democracy to the entrepreneurial and proprietary interests determining the formation of political parties.

The first issue to be recognised is what follows when the constitution gives exclusive authority in such strategic areas determining candidacy for public office.

Section 221 excludes groups but political parties from-

-Canvassing for votes for any candidate at any election;
-Contributing to the funds of any political party;
-and contributing to the election expenses of any candidate at any election.

This is what Section 221 as now quoted states:
“No association, other than a political party shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at any election”.

All candidates must therefore depend upon political parties for canvassing for votes of the electorates and for their election expenses. Since no association can contribute to the funds of any political party, political parties in a multi-party competitive electoral process must be self-financing.

Forming parties for the purpose of canvassing for votes or funding the election expenses of the candidates in any election is, however, a capital intensive project. This singular provision makes the formation of parties the business of the wealthy. The poor cannot form parties. The wage earning professionals cannot form parties. Only the wealthy can invest in the formation of political parties.

Section 222 specifies the conditions that those who are willing to fund the formation of parties and the election expenses of the candidates that they sponsor must comply with. “No association by whatever name called shall function as a political party, unless-

*The names and address of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission;

*The membership of the association is open to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping;

*A copy of its constitution is registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in such a form as may be prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission;

*Any alteration in its registered constitution is also registered in the principal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission within 30 days of the making of such alternation;

*The name of the association, its symbol or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious constitution or give the appearance that the activities of the association are confined to a part only of the geographical area of Nigeria; and

*The headquarters of the association is situated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja”.
None of these six conditions is an obstacle to the furtherance of the private purpose and interest in the formation of the association that shall function as a political party. The conditions specified for obtaining the licence to operate as a party do not inhibit or compromise the private purposes for setting up political parties.

These purposes are private because they do not have to be disclosed nor is there a stipulation that the truth of their disclosure be ascertained.

Five of the conditions are strictly procedural
·That names of parties are to be registered with INEC;

·That a copy of the party’s constitution is registered according to a form prescribed by INEC in the principal office of INEC;

·That any alteration in the party’s constitution is registered in the principal office of INEC within 30 days of such alteration;

·That the name of the association, its symbols or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious connotation or give the impression that the activities of the party are confined to a part of Nigeria;

·The headquarters of the party is situated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
All these five requirements can be stipulated for the licensing of hospitals, churches or for a chain of food franchise. Only the requirement that the membership of the association is open to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping may perhaps pose a problem.

This requirement however imposes no obligation on the founders of parties to ensure that members are drawn from every ethnic group of Nigeria- it only prohibits denial of membership to any Nigerian citizen.

Openness of membership to every citizen is not the same thing as collective and democratic ownership, control, management and administration of parties.

The constitution wittingly or unwittingly has thus through Section 221 given private individuals with money a monopoly for funding political parties and for sponsoring candidates for public office, for we have seen that Section 222 does not prescribe the ideology of an association that functions as a political party. It just ensures that the party so formed is open to every citizen of Nigeria and is formally national.

The Constitution does not stipulate that a political party be nationalistic, it only stipulates that its symbols should not give the impression that it is ethnic or sectarian. The regulatory requirements to be enforced by INEC do not indeed alter the entrepreneurial origins of the formation of parties.

All concerns for internal democracy in political parties must address the issue of party ownership, for the form of democracy that the constitution implies is that to be found among shareholders; the structure of ownership of a firm determines the type of democracy in decision making of the firm; equality in ownership results in equality of powers in decision making and vice versa.

The Constitution allows both for monopoly of decision making and democratic structure of decision making in the internal matters for what  is the case in the internal operations of political parties depend on how formation of parties are funded; the constitution does not prohibit sole proprietorship of parties or mandate collective proprietorship of the same.

Internal democratization of parties cannot be legislated; it requires constitutional reform on the requirements that must be met before a private association can function as a political party.