Most Nigeria’s political parties run by few moneybags ― PPC National Chairman

National Chairman of Providence People’s Congress (PPC), Mr Benson Adetona, has said that part of the problems facing the country is that political parties do not belong to the people but some few moneybags leaving Nigeria with a situation where a single individual determines who becomes what within the political space.

The party boss said this in Lagos while delivering his state of the nation address, lamenting that such institution
had equally foisted on the country few incompetent people who were incapable of providing leadership that would move the country forward.

“This is our experience since 1999,” Adetona declared, adding that other problems confronting the polity include the fact that love of money had made the citizens lose their humanity with money now being elevated beyond human life.

“We have all as a people taken in by the love of money, this has made us to completely lose our humanity, human life is no longer cherished. We have elevated money beyond human life so, the foundation of the Third Republic is not built on people’s constitution, the existing 91 political parties, including the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lack character and ideology, among others.

“The provision of the law seems to suggest widespread ownership of a political party, but this in practice has failed woefully in that, political party ownership has followed the pattern of moneybags. He who pays the pipers dictates the tune.

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“Thus we have been inundated with a situation where a single individual determines who becomes what within the political space, such an institution has foisted on one person who is incompetent and incapable of providing leadership that will move the country forward. This is our experience since 1999,” he lamented.

“The foundation of the Third Republic is such that the constitution which set up the Third Republic is not a product of the citizens as it claimed, it was not a document put together by the Constituent Assembly like that of 1979. The current one which came twenty years after was produced by the military.

“It is now another 20 years that we have operated it and it has led us nowhere thus far, we must now do the needful,” he added.

“Whereas the membership of PDP, APC has been fluid as cris- crossing between both parties has been easy making both parties have similar characters and consequently similar ownership.

“The two parties have also formed other parties that are appendages to themselves. So these other parties are usually tools with which to manipulate election and subvert the will of the people. The proliferation of the political parties has thus appeared burdensome to the citizens especially as about 70 candidates have had to emerge out of the 91 political parties to contest the 2019 presidential election,” Adetona said.

“This strategy is to divert the attention of the electorate, confused them and make the election of credible candidate difficult,” he lamented.

Speaking to the topic of his address titled: Nigeria’s Hour of Salvation is now,” the PPC national chairman, while lamenting the state of insecurity in the country, among others, enjoined all peace-loving compatriots and citizens to dump what he termed as the attitude of “lukewarmness to active and meaningful participation in democratic processes not necessarily in politics.”

He equally charged Nigerians to ensure that issues that had led the country to where it is were reversed in order to get a result which must be different from what had been gotten over the years.

“Willingness to make sacrifices by putting resources at the disposal of these reforms is a strong necessary condition to all who seek the good of the land.

“Receiving and passing information correctly to various constituents is significant for moving ahead progressively,” he said, adding: “A structure of leadership must be in place that will painstakingly lead this understanding process to a safe harbour where a new beginning can be appropriately engendered.”