Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim, a former president of the Senate, has tasked the Inter-Party Advocacy Council (IPAC) to ensure accountability and good leadership in the running of political parties to ensure governance in the country.

Mr Ayim said this in Abuja on Wednesday at the inauguration of the pioneer IPAC Strategic Plan (2024-2028) on deepening democracy, party inclusivity and responsibilities for the development of Nigeria.

He said that IPAC, being the umbrella body for registered political parties, must address salient issues affecting the party system.

He said the lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates, hijack of party machinery by “money bags”, usurpation of party leadership powers by government officials, lack of functional register, ethnicity and religion, among other ill practices, must be addressed.

“These are the challenges and the new leadership of IPAC must rise up to the occasion.

“Mr Chairman and your team, you have a lot in your hands to tackle; the journey to deepening democracy is still long and torturous.

“Accordingly, the need to prioritise turnaround reforms in the parties has become inevitable.

“I, however, feel that with men like the new national leadership IPAC, I am confident that there will soon be light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, congratulated IPAC for the foresight, initiative and painstaking effort put into the production of the document.

He said that the goal of the strategic plan was to reposition, reform and enhance the efficacy of IPAC in nurturing multi-party dialogue and deepening the roots of democracy in Nigeria.

“As a responsible legislature, we shall continue to engage with Nigerians at all levels of governance, the civil society and democratic institutions to birth legislations and legislative actions that will engender our common good as a nation.

“Our determination to undertake constitutional amendment, as evident in the ongoing constitutional review process, is an important component of this trajectory,” he said. 

The chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, urged political parties to deepen the practice of internal democracy as enshrined in their various party constitutions and guidelines to avoid acrimonious primaries.

Represented by the federal commissioner, outreach and partnership, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, Mr Yakubu said that the conduct of parallel primaries and the emergence of multiple candidates was a frequent occurrence in political parties.

“Some of these infractions lead to unnecessary litigations among party members in which the commission is always joined and burdened as a party.

“We must find a solution to this problem; Beyond the primaries, we encourage IPAC to implore its members to tone down the negative rhetoric during campaigns and strongly appeal to their media warlords to shun the weaponisation of disinformation.

“Spreading of fake news tends to rile up religious, political and tribal sentiments, hence, heating an already anxious and polarised society in the run-up to an election,” he said.

He said that IPAC should also rise to the occasion and ensure inclusive participation of women, youths and persons with disabilities (PWD) in the political party process and as flag bearers.

In his remarks, the national chairman of IPAC, AYusuf Danielle, pledged to restore IPAC to a robust and dynamic platform that fosters collaboration among political parties, arms and tiers of government and other stakeholders.

“The aim is to  improve democratic process as well as capacity building of leaders of political parties to enable them tackle the multifarious challenges in the country.

“The council had a strategic engagement WFD which resulted in a three-day retreat for the newly elected IPAC executive and national chairmen of political parties where this notable four-year strategic plan was conceived, initiated and developed.

“It was aided and guided by our frontline development partner, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

“Today, we are here to unveil and launch this momentous strategic plan of action that will accelerate political development of the country as members of the council are leaders of their political parties which produced all the elected public officers,” he said.

He added: “The strategic plan will definitely have a spiral effect in the nation’s democratic space, more importantly, as citizens are facing hard times and disillusioned over economic stagnation, insecurity and lack of confidence in government at all levels.

“Henceforth, IPAC will set the agenda on national issues and hold elected public officers accountable with a view to providing dividends of democracy to the populace.

“Council has already set up a peer review mechanism to oversee the achievement of governors and legislators to ensure they comply with the global Sustainable Development Goals and meet the yearnings and expectations of the masses.”

(NAN)