Ahead of 2027 general election, a Senior Fellow of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Prof Leonard Kursim has warned politicians who defected to another political party while in office to as a matter of facts vacate their seats immediately, because their mandate is from another party.
Prof Kursim gave the warning at a one day workshop with the theme: “Capacity Enhancement for Political Parties in Plateau State organized 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 JosThe Senior Fellow while presenting 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 maintained that defecting to another party because your own is facing challenges means you are abandoning your responsibilities. He urged political leaders to take responsibility.
“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 explained that Nigerians seem to be worried that the country is tilting towards a one-party system stressing that if citizens are properly educated, there’s no way we’ll 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.
According to him, that’s why political education is key, it empowers citizens to hold leaders accountable and to defend the integrity of our democracy.
The IPAC State Chairman Hon. Chris Hassan in his remarks argued that the major problem of political parties is the umpire (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.
Also speaking the Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mallam Mohammed Sadiq said the workshop is designed to build the capacity of political party leaders.
According to him, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) serves as a platform for political parties to come together, discuss issues, and advance the democratic process.
Sadiq also said he is impressed with the progress the Plateau State IPAC has made so far in uniting political parties with the view to promote dialogue in the state .
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 strengthened 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.
