FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, had yesterday castigated politicians and political parties for their many manifestoes that they often end up not fulfilling at the end of the day. Obasanjo had encouraged Nigerians to hold politicians responsible for their inability to deliver what they promise during their campaigns. He also took on some political parties who do not have concrete and realizable manifestoes, saying that such political parties should not have existed in the first place.
Obasanjo made this statement while Speaking at a Roundtable Conference on Party Politics in Nigeria and Lobbying the Lobbyist and the Legislature, put together by the National Institute for Legislative Studies, NILS, in Abuja,
He said: “I want to say that there are some areas where political parties need improvement. I am sure and I hope that the discussants and speakers would lay emphasis on these areas. One of them is the issue of manifestoes. What I have come to see and understand in Nigeria is that manifestoes are prepared for campaigns and after wards, they are thrown away.
“How then can we hold parties and their elected leaders to their promises and manifestoes? Or if they have no manifestoes, what do we hold them for?”
Speaking on the need to imbibe the culture of discipline amongst politicians and political parties, OBJ said: “One point I would want to make is about service. We really see service in party politics. Senator David Mark has said that the only means of going into election in this country is through a political party.
“Political parties are vehicle through which one can participate in elections. What are the ingredients that must be there for political parties to participate the way they should and make elections what they should be— free, fair and transparent in such a way that the outcome would be fairly, generally accepted?”
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