By Ada Nkong.
The need for political parties to move away from money politics towards ideologies has been emphasized.
Engr. Daniel Gambo stressed this during his welcome address at the National Summit Organized by the Community Structure Foundation for Good Governance in Abuja.
The theme of the summit is ‘Saving Nigeria’s Democracy: Halting Authoritarian Drift and Charting the Road to 2027.
Gambo lamented the fact that credible candidates are unable to come up with the high cost of nomination forms set by political parties,citing 2023 elections where some parties sold forms for as much as N 100,000,000.
On his part, the guest speaker Dr Sam Amadi identified politics as the greatest facilitator of development and transformation as well as the greatest facilitator of stagnation and decay. He said Nigeria would overcome her challenges if we get our politics right.
Amadi noted that we can safely divide Nigeria’s political experience from 1999 to 2014 when there was growth to a period of sustained decline from 2015 till date.
Amadi lamented that Nigeria is the country with the lowest quality of life., less access to health care and food.
He urged people in governance to prioritize getting their politics right before getting the economy right.
Commenting on the recent challenges in the week gone past, he noted that schools shutdown under uncertainty saying it is the worst times in recent times.
Amadi attributed the present challenges to gross failure in leadership, adding that Nigeria’s problem is inactivity while hoping to get results.
He further said the non funding of the budget for the year is a pointer to the poor situation of things.
Among other things he said In 2027, the current government must have a strong challenger if things must change.
He also said alternative platforms must be truly alternative and organize around issues people care about like insecurity and care about what people are going through as well as provide an answer to their problems.
According to him,the success of the takeover in 2014 was because the opposition party took a position that resonated with many people.
He called on alternative platforms to be alternative in policy, messaging and what they are selling to Nigerians.
Amadi called on non party political groups to carry out effective mobilization and choose a platform that aligns with their vision to back in 2027
He Urged the populace to force the politicians to address our issues
Senator David Mark who was represented by Mallam Bafar Saleh
an ADC official expressed
sadness over the incidents in the last one week.He referred to the abduction of school girls in KEBBI and Niger and blamed the government for focusing on the 2027 elections while people are dying.
He also faulted the delegation to US over the CPC status declared by President Trump which he said should have been made up of diplomats.
On his part. Peter Obi’ who was represented by Peter Ameh.former Chairman IPAC harped on the need for political participation saying freedom of speech is necessary for democracy to thrive.
He also condemned the wave of defection saying it is affecting political parties and may have an impact on 2027.
The highlight of the event was a panel discussion hinged around saving Nigeria’s democracy.
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