[b][/b]The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has hunted that Nigeria is yet to attain an enduring democratization process, in spite of the huge successes recorded by the commission in the 2015 General Elections.

The commission feared that the electoral process might, be in danger due to what it termed frightening factors militating against free and credible poll in the country.

A National Commissioner of INEC, Professor Lai Olurode, disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti at the presentation of certificates of return to winners in the National Assembly election in the state.

In his speech entitled ,”spectre of electoral and democratic reform,” the INEC official called for concerted effort at taming the monster of heavy deployment of security during elections saying such is taking a tow on the nation ‘s resources .

Olurode, who serves as the National Commissioner in charge of Ekiti, Oyo and Osun states, said Nigerians must not take the current democratisation process for granted, and lamented that this seemed to be the case now following some factors he captured in his “spectre of electoral and democratic reform.”

He said: “We shouldn’t take this democratisation process for granted. We can unwittingly be putting it in the opposite direction if care is not taken because there are some recent developments that call for concern. Some of the key issues include the fact that political parties, the political elite, INEC as a commission and security agencies have to address.

“We are not yet there, you can’t do elections without deployment of large number of security agencies to the field. It cannot continue to be like that. The cost of organising election in this country is quite huge compared to what the cost is in other countries. America does not spend as much as an average legislator spends in an election in this country. After spending all these money, where are you going to get it back from if not from the public purse? It is so costly to do elections in the country because every process has been monetised.”

Olurode also lamented that political parties as institutions in the democratic process had been relegated, saying “how many members of political parties pay their membership dues in this country, like it was done in the olden days? Nowadays, you have strong people in political parties who call the shots and members have no voice. We can’t run political parties like that, it is not sustainable.”

He noted that “there is no internal democracy in party processes in this country, it shouldn’t be like that. We should not gag the voices of the members. This is why we fear that the democratisation process in this country might be put in reverse gear.”
[b]The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has hunted that Nigeria is yet to attain an enduring democratization process, in spite of the huge successes recorded by the commission in the 2015 General Elections.

The commission feared that the electoral process might, be in danger due to what it termed frightening factors militating against free and credible poll in the country.

A National Commissioner of INEC, Professor Lai Olurode, disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti at the presentation of certificates of return to winners in the National Assembly election in the state.

In his speech entitled ,”spectre of electoral and democratic reform,” the INEC official called for concerted effort at taming the monster of heavy deployment of security during elections saying such is taking a tow on the nation ‘s resources .

Olurode, who serves as the National Commissioner in charge of Ekiti, Oyo and Osun states, said Nigerians must not take the current democratisation process for granted, and lamented that this seemed to be the case now following some factors he captured in his “spectre of electoral and democratic reform.”

He said: “We shouldn’t take this democratisation process for granted. We can unwittingly be putting it in the opposite direction if care is not taken because there are some recent developments that call for concern. Some of the key issues include the fact that political parties, the political elite, INEC as a commission and security agencies have to address.

“We are not yet there, you can’t do elections without deployment of large number of security agencies to the field. It cannot continue to be like that. The cost of organising election in this country is quite huge compared to what the cost is in other countries. America does not spend as much as an average legislator spends in an election in this country. After spending all these money, where are you going to get it back from if not from the public purse? It is so costly to do elections in the country because every process has been monetised.”

Olurode also lamented that political parties as institutions in the democratic process had been relegated, saying “how many members of political parties pay their membership dues in this country, like it was done in the olden days? Nowadays, you have strong people in political parties who call the shots and members have no voice. We can’t run political parties like that, it is not sustainable.”

He noted that “there is no internal democracy in party processes in this country, it shouldn’t be like that. We should not gag the voices of the members. This is why we fear that the democratisation process in this country might be put in reverse gear.”
[/b]The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has hunted that Nigeria is yet to attain an enduring democratization process, in spite of the huge successes recorded by the commission in the 2015 General Elections.

The commission feared that the electoral process might, be in danger due to what it termed frightening factors militating against free and credible poll in the country.

A National Commissioner of INEC, Professor Lai Olurode, disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti at the presentation of certificates of return to winners in the National Assembly election in the state.

In his speech entitled ,”spectre of electoral and democratic reform,” the INEC official called for concerted effort at taming the monster of heavy deployment of security during elections saying such is taking a tow on the nation ‘s resources .

Olurode, who serves as the National Commissioner in charge of Ekiti, Oyo and Osun states, said Nigerians must not take the current democratisation process for granted, and lamented that this seemed to be the case now following some factors he captured in his “spectre of electoral and democratic reform.”

He said: “We shouldn’t take this democratisation process for granted. We can unwittingly be putting it in the opposite direction if care is not taken because there are some recent developments that call for concern. Some of the key issues include the fact that political parties, the political elite, INEC as a commission and security agencies have to address.

“We are not yet there, you can’t do elections without deployment of large number of security agencies to the field. It cannot continue to be like that. The cost of organising election in this country is quite huge compared to what the cost is in other countries. America does not spend as much as an average legislator spends in an election in this country. After spending all these money, where are you going to get it back from if not from the public purse? It is so costly to do elections in the country because every process has been monetised.”

Olurode also lamented that political parties as institutions in the democratic process had been relegated, saying “how many members of political parties pay their membership dues in this country, like it was done in the olden days? Nowadays, you have strong people in political parties who call the shots and members have no voice. We can’t run political parties like that, it is not sustainable.”

He noted that “there is no internal democracy in party processes in this country, it shouldn’t be like that. We should not gag the voices of the members. This is why we fear that the democratisation process in this country might be put in reverse gear.”

Very true

Better to have strong parties with strong systems than large parties with strong individuals.

Parties are meant to institutions not beholden to any benefactor for its day to day running. The party should be self sustaining.

PDP used to have some semblance of internal democracy, better than AD/AC/APC but they went ballistic since last year. Hope they retrace their steps.