Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has described the use of consensus by the All Progressives Congress, APC, to determine governorship primaries, particularly in Ogun State, as “extortion” and “plutocracy” that subverts democracy.
Falana spoke at the 8th Penpushing Annual Lecture held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta on Thursday with the theme “Restoring Electoral Integrity: The Path to Good Governance and Public Accountability.”
For him transparent party primaries were a prerequisite for electoral integrity.
“Please, let’s stop kidding ourselves. “You have to start with the primaries if you are going to talk about electoral integrity,” he said.
He said the use of consensus arrangements denies party members the right to freely choose their candidates, even though the Electoral Act allows for both direct and consensus methods.
The SAN also expressed worries over what he called rising threats to Nigeria’s multi-party system, warning that deregistration of political parties and disenfranchising others from` elections could lead to political crisis.
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“Political exclusion has historically encouraged undemocratic forces to undermine democratic institutions across Africa,” said Falana.
He further condemned the monetisation of politics, citing the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who alleged that some governorship aspirants spent between N20 billion and N30 billion during primaries.
“How much are you going to spend in the real election if you are spending between N20 billion and N30 billion on a primary?” he asked.
“Such huge amounts couldn’t have been earned legitimately,” said Falana, adding that the practice encourages corruption and undermines democracy.
He called for urgent reforms to strengthen internal party democracy, curb the commercialisation of politics and preserve the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic process.