A senior fellow of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Prof Leonard Kursim, has said elected political office holders who have defected to another party should immediately vacate their seats because their mandate is from another party.
Kursim said this during a one-day workshop with the theme, “Capacity Enhancement for Political Parties in Plateau State.”
The event was organised by the Centre for Peace Sustainability and Social Tolerance (CPSST) in collaboration with Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) held at the National Institute, Kuru near Jos.
The senior fellow, who presented a paper titled “The Role of Political Parties in Deepening Democratic Governance at the State Level,” said “whether you’re a President, Governor, Senator, member of the House of Representatives, State Assembly or Local Government Chairman, once you defected to another party the best thing for you to do is vacate your seat.
“Unfortunately, that’s not what we see today. What is happening in Nigeria is quite disturbing. When you’re elected under a political party, you are in a contract with that party and with the people who voted for you under its platform.”
Kursim said political office holders who defect to another party because their former platform is facing challenges are abandoning their responsibilities.
Charging them to political leaders to take responsibility for their parties, he said, “If your party is not doing well, you should either help to resolve the issues or go back to the people and explain to them.
“You can’t remain in office under a different party and still claim legitimacy. It doesn’t work that way anywhere in the world”, he said.
He further said that Nigerians are worried that the country is tilting towards a one-party system, stressing that if citizens are properly educated, there’s no way the country will slip into a one-party system.
“The idea of the ongoing gale of defections by state Governors is what’s fueling that fear. But when people are politically enlightened, if a Governor or Senator defected, the people should not vote for them again because they would have seen such leaders as not trustworthy to be given their mandate.
He however said political education is vital as it empowers citizens to hold leaders accountable and to defend the integrity of democracy.
The IPAC chairman in the state, Hon. Chris Hassan, in his remarks, argued that the major problem of political parties is the electoral umpire Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He added that, if INEC performs its duties diligently, there would be no need for any bitterness and rancour.
“The next stage is the judiciary. When your rights are infringed upon, you should be able to go to court and get justice, and your mandate should be restored. If these two institutions do their work, why should there be any problem at all? Hassan said.
On his part, the Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mallam Mohammed Sadiq, said the workshop is designed to build the capacity of political party leaders.
On her part, the program manager, Centre for Peace, Sustainability and Social Tolerance (CPSST), Hajiya Binta Kabir, said the essence of the workshop is to strengthen and to promote good leadership and connecting opposition political parties to the Government in power to see how they work harmoniously together irrespective of party differences.
