The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that elected members who intend to decamp must vacate their seats.
Naija News reports that Atiku made this known on Monday in Abuja while speaking as a panellist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria.
The former Vice President stated that party members must not be allowed to ignore party supremacy and rules, stressing that there must be consequences for members who fail to comply.
He said, “That should not be open for discussion or debate when it happens. Electoral malpractice generally must be punished rather than rewarded. These are necessary for political integrity.”
Speaking on the issue of a coalition, Atiku explained that opposition parties must realise that it is challenging to dislodge a governing party, no matter how unpopular or how fed up the people may be with it.
He argued that democracy can not be sustained without strong political parties, especially opposition parties, noting that funding by governors and a few wealthy individuals is not a democratic model.
Atiku urged citizens to invest in funding the choice of their political parties.
He said, “Coalition-building and outright mergers are critical for building the capacity of the opposition to achieve that goal. Our own history and examples from other countries prove that.
“Parties need to be strong and democratic enough to be able to fulfil their roles. Ownership of parties by or their subordination to individual big men is the antithesis of democracy.
“Party supremacy is critical. But party supremacy can’t be achieved through the current funding model for our parties
“As we know, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Funding must be democratised. Members must invest in and co-own parties.
“When people start from the point of view that “Tinubu is rich or Peter Obi is rich or Atiku is rich, so I don’t have to contribute”, they surrender to the big man’s dominance of parties.
“In more effective democracies, parties and candidates raise funds from the mass of members and supporters. When people invest in something, they tend to be more engaged with it. So, our people, especially party members need to be enlightened.
“The transition to truly democratised parties won’t be easy but must be begun. Could we consider some public (government) funding of parties during the transition period? Perhaps proportionate to each party’s elected officials in the legislatures to avoid parties springing up just to collect public funds?”