Convener of The Alternative, Segun Showunmi, has called for the
amendments of Nigeria’s electoral and party governance framework in
order to fortify political parties, deter opportunistic defections, and deepen
ideological accountability.
Showunmi stressed the need to identify areas that require improvement in
order to improve governance, maximize accountability, and advance
inclusive development.
He insisted that anyone seeking elective office must have been a
registered member of a political party for at least four years before an
election, in order to prevent political tourists and ensure that candidates are
ideologically driven and aligned with their respective parties.
The PDP chieftain opined that any elected official who defects from his
party, should be made to lose their seat and barred from contesting under
another party for at least four years.
The policy, according to him, will significantly reduce factionalism, promote
coherent policy implementation, making elected officials answerable to
party manifestos rather than personal, self-serving interests.
Meanwhile, he asked, INEC, to use centralized biometric databases to
verify party membership duration, enforce penalties for non-compliance
and launch nationwide campaigns to educate voters on party ideologies
over personality hijacking.
