Senate President Bukola SarakiThe Socialist Party of Nigeria has written off the much celebrated electoral Amendment Bill 2017, which was passed by the Senate on March 30, saying it falls short of the expectation of ordinary Nigerians.
The Party issued the strongly worded statement below.
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) considers the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment Bill 2017) passed by the Senate on March 30, 2017 as a step that falls short of the expectation of vast majority of working people and ordinary Nigerians who have been kept out of the electoral process because of heavy monetization of politics and several undemocratic laws.
For far too long, politics has been the preserve of the rich and powerful. The working people, young people and poor masses that often bear the brunt of mis-governance, corruption and anti-poor policies of the pro-rich parties that dominate the political space also deserve an opportunity to form political parties and contest elections on the basis of their own independent ideas and programmes.
On the strength of the above, the SPN calls for a complete overhaul of the country’s electoral laws and a firm policy against monetization of the electoral process starting with the removal of the onerous requirements for party registration including the one million naira INEC processing fee.
We also demand the scrapping of section 223 (b) of the 1999 Constitution which suggest that a political party must have a national character. As far as we are concerned, there is no reason why a party cannot start small in a small Local government or in a state or region where it has root and grow nationally on the basis of its gradual electoral success. We also demand the recognition of independent candidacy.
Unfortunately, instead of supporting steps to deepen our democracy, reactionary parties like the Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) are calling for stiffer conditions for the registration of political parties in the country, with a proposal that section 78, subsections 3 and 4 of the Electoral Act be amended. This kind of proposal shows just how desperate the ruling elite are to even further attack the limited democratic rights guaranteed in the constitution and the Electoral Act.
One area the ruling class does not want to give up is the monetization of politics. No doubt, politics is heavily monetized, a conscious policy that makes it easier for the rich to dominate politics while it is extremely difficult for workers and the poor to fully participate in politics. Part of the amendment introduced by the Senate is to end the common practice of political parties charging arbitrary nomination fees on political aspirants beyond the stipulated limits of N150,000 for Ward Councillorship; N250,000 for Council Chairmanship; N500,000 for House of Assembly aspirants; N1,000,000 for House of Representatives aspirants; N2,000,000 for a senatorial aspirant; N5,000,000 for governorship aspirant; and N10,000,000 for Presidential aspirants. The establishment parties charge more than these limits set by the Senate amendment bill. For instance President Buhari paid about N25,000,000 charged by the All Progressives Congress (APC) merely for an indication of interest to run. However, the limit set by this Senate amendment is still unaffordable for the vast majority of workers and the poor.
Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) demands an amendment that will end monetization of politics and undermine the overbearing influence of the privileged few on politics including but not limited to banning political parties from charging all manners of fees. The bourgeois political parties are incapable of bringing about equality for all but promotes inequality and divisions.
All undue advantages pro-capitalist parties in power exploit should also be abrogated including looting public treasury to fund political campaigns, getting donations from big business etc. The only way to achieve this is to put in place democratic control and management of resources/production/exchange by representatives of workers and consumers as well as democratic management of INEC. In line with SPN policy, no aspirant will be charged for nomination fee and the party will depend on its members to raise money through subscription and donations to fund the party different from pro-rich parties that depend on money bags and alienate the poor.
There can be no genuine democracy when the vast majority cannot participate in decision making within the party and their interest is not protected by the bourgeois state. Democracy is not only when the poor are given the opportunity to periodically vote into power those who represent and defend the billionaire class. Hence, any review of the existing laws that does not guarantee a level playing ground within the electoral process will not resolve the present contradictions. More fundamentally, workers and the poor must struggle to defend their class interest through the building of a mass working class political party democratically controlled and distinct from the bourgeois party with a clear agenda to meet the needs of all and not the profit of a privileged few as we presently have it.
Chinedu Bosah
National Secretary