Nsukka, Nigeria – A University Professor has advised political parties in Enugu State to ensure effective internal democracy during their primaries prior to the forthcoming Oct. 5 Local Government (LG) polls in the state.
The primaries are designed to throw up councillorship and chairmanship candidates.
Prof Rose Onah, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria Nsukka, gave the advice in Nsukka on Friday.
Onah said “if political parties would enthrone internal democracy during their primaries, by not imposing candidates on their members, it would eliminate rancour, disagreement, violence and protest over the esults of primaries.
“Political parties should rather allow members to elect aspirants of their choice as candidates for the October 5 Local Government Polls in Enugu State.”
The Don, a former Caretaker Chairman of Nsukka Local Government Council, urged party leadership to carry all aspirants along by giving them equal playing field without any form of discrimination.
“Party leaders should also ensure that all aspirants abide by the rules of engagement no matter whose ‘Ox is gored”.
“Aspirants should accept the results of free and fair primaries in good faith since in every contest there must be winners and losers,” she said.
She urged party members to resist any form of financial or material inducements to mortgage their conscience to vote the wrong aspirant as candidate.
“Party members should consider aspirants’ competences, capacities, qualifications and past track records before electing candidates.
“At times, political parties fail general election because they elected the wrong candidates during party primaries,” she said.
Onah urged Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), the electoral umpire, to ensure that it monitored all political party primaries so as to know the right and genuine candidates that emerged winners during the primaries.
ENSIEC had recently fixed August 19 as deadline for all political parties to conduct their primaries before the October 5 Local Government polls in the state.
