Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), and former House of Representatives member, Dr. Usman Bugaje, have accused Nigeria’s political parties of lacking ideology and being responsible for the country’s stunted growth 65 years after independence.
Both statesmen spoke on Wednesday during Channels Television’s special broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, criticised the structure of Nigeria’s political system, particularly what he called the “winner-takes-all” syndrome, which he said has entrenched corruption, impunity and recklessness in governance.
“There is no way you can concentrate power in the hands of the ruling party. The ruling party must share power with other constituencies,” Falana argued.
He insisted that proportional representation was the only way to address Nigeria’s governance crisis.
“The winner-takes-all system is part of the problems we face currently. Without an ideological base or orientation for political parties, corruption will continue, impunity will continue, and recklessness will continue,” the rights lawyer stressed.
On his part, Bugaje lamented the failure of political parties to serve as platforms for leadership recruitment, describing them as “empty vessels” with no clear distinction.
“I have said it several times: the political parties we have today have neither content nor conscience, they lack courage, and they are not good for anything,” Bugaje declared.
He added that frequent defections among politicians only proved the emptiness of the parties.
“Look at what is happening today—what makes people move from APC to PDP, or from PDP to APC? It is because they are all empty. What really differentiates them?” he asked.
Both Falana and Bugaje warned that unless Nigeria’s political parties are restructured on ideological foundations, the nation would continue to face crises of leadership, instability and underdevelopment.
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