National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Yusuf Dantalle, has said Nigerian political parties will be free of internal conflicts if the government funds their programmes and activities.
IPAC, the umbrella body of the registered political parties in Nigeria, which are currently 19 in number, is pushing for a legislation that will make the government fund political parties in the country.
NewsNGR reports that most of the political parties in the country are embroiled in internal crisis, which most often manifest in the form of leadership tussles and imposition of candidates.
Speaking in an interview with NewsNGR, IPAC national chairman
Dantalle blamed the situation on the absence of government funding for the political parties.
According to him, moneybags have taken advantage of the situation to take control of political parties by providing funds, a development which most times results in internal conflicts.
The IPAC chairman canvassed a return to the previous arrangement whereby the government provided grants and subvention for the parties.
Dantalle stressed that the government, through the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should fund the activities of political parties in Nigeria.
He argued that if the government could fund some sectors of the economy, the political parties also deserve public funding due to the important role they play in the society.
“The way forward is restoration of grants to political parties but under the supervision of INEC to manage whatever grants. It does not mean directly giving them (political parties) money but funding the activities of political parties, maybe their primary elections and so on.
“This is because no political party belongs to anybody. Political parties are public property so if the government can support the aviation industry with grants, support the textile industry with grants, why can’t it support political parties which are the primary institution for appointing or electing leaders or administrators of the society at large?
“The legislative arm should look into this and restore these grants so that the political parties can be strong enough to be able to administer and bridle their products which are the politicians that are elected,” the IPAC chairman said.
Shedding light on the causes of internal conflicts in most of the political parties, Dantalle identified funding as the major factor.
He said the withdrawal of government grants and subvention, as was obtainable in the past, was a ploy by moneybagg-politicians to take control of the political parties.
Dantalle added, “When you want to solve problems sincerely, most times it is better to look at the foundation of the problems. Politicians who wanted to take over or have absolute control of the system tried to weaken political parties through the withdrawal of grants and subvention to the political parties as it was obtainable in the past.
“So what it means is that this has left the political parties at the mercy of individuals who have the means to fund the political parties.
“The implication of this is that even if some persons are in aberration of the constitution of the political parties, the political parties find it difficult to punish the erring individual because how can you punish somebody who is feeding you?
“So you see one politician being a member of 3, 4, 5 political parties – trying to cause friction if they don’t do his bidding. You can see what is happening in some political parties today.
“So we need to strengthen the political parties against the individual and pull them out of the mercy of individuals because, today, they (individuals) still fund the political parties and whoever pays the piper dictates the tune of the music.”