“With the recent rise of voter apathy in Nigeria, the idea of intra-party democracy has acquired an expanding consideration.”
Intraparty democracy, and its challenges and opportunities, is the theme of the upcoming webinar of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), which is being executed through its Media in Nigerian Election (MiNE) Project.
Mboho Eno, programme manager in charge of advocacy and accountability at PTCIJ, said “with the recent rise of voter apathy in Nigeria, the idea of intra-party democracy has acquired an expanding consideration, in part as a way of bringing the accountability of government to citizens to debate, but more importantly as a way of assessing the stability and legitimacy of democracies within which political parties compete for power.”
The idea of internal democracy in a political party relates to the rules guiding the structures of party organisations. These rules are expected to be transparent, widely known by members, and subject to change following strictly established and recognized procedures.
Some of these ideas include the selection of candidates, leadership contests, regular membership conventions, as well as internal rules relating to the discipline of party members, and how to hold leaders accountable within a political party.
Naturally, these developments stir intra-party rifts, Mr Eno said, adding that they test party resilience and the strength of internal democracy.
The panellists on this webinar include Buba Galadima, a politician; Idayat Hassan, the Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development; Ezenwa Nwagwu, the Executive Director of Peering Advocacy and Advancement centre in Africa (PAACA) and Leonard Nzenwa, National Chairman, African Action Congress, AAC & National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council and IPAC.