Youth Party has asserted that the party remains a legally registered and fully operational political party in Nigeria as it is not affected by the ruling of the Supreme Court on deregistration of about 74 political parties.

The Youth Party, in a statement by its Chair, Tomiwa Aladekomo, explained that, “the judgement by the Supreme Court was against the National Unity Party (NUP) and does not affect the Youth Party. We remain a legally registered political party.”

 According to Aladekomo, “There were three cases against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The NUP case was decided yesterday and there is also a second case that involves 22 parties, which is yet to be decided. The third case is with the Youth Party.

 “The most recent judgement in this case filed against INEC was a victory for the Youth Party. The judgement was delivered by Justice Ekwo at the Federal High Court, Abuja on 15th October, 2020, who directed INEC to allow the Youth Party to participate in all elections until 2023. The judgement has not been set aside and has not been stayed. INEC is required by law to obey the said judgment until it is set aside by a court of law.”

He continued: It is important to note that Youth Party’s legal challenge rests on the basis of INEC’s initial refusal to register the party and delayed response to court orders. The Youth Party began the process to register our party in November 2016, a process that should ordinarily take a month or two at most. After INEC refused to register the party under its chosen name, the Party went to court to challenge INEC’s position. We won this case on the 18th October, 2017. Despite the Court’s judgement, INEC did not formally register Youth Party until August 2018, less than two weeks before primaries for the 2019 elections were to begin. This delay of course made competing effectively in the elections near impossible, as it left us almost no time to mobilize.”

He further noted:” To Youth Party’s supporters and the Nigerian people at large, we say that we will continue to fight. We remain a legally registered political party despite INEC’s actions. We believe in the merits of our case and believe we will prevail and compete in the 2023 elections and many elections before then, starting with the upcoming Lagos State Local Government elections. 

“We have published our guidelines for our primaries, have strong candidates ready to contest on our platform and made our legal position clear to LASIEC, which governs these elections and INEC as well. We challenge them to obey the courts and allow us to participate. 

“Any form of exclusion from the Lagos Polls by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) would render the electoral process null and void,” the party warned

 “We urge Nigerians join us in this fight. Visit youthpartyng.com and register to join us. We can shape a truly bright future for Nigeria if we all work together,” it added.

The Youth Party has released guidelines and a schedule of activities for the conduct of its primaries ahead of the July 2020 Local Government election in Lagos State.

The party, in a statement jointly signed by its National Chairman Tomiwa Aladekomo and National Secretary, Mujaheed Salisu Ahmad, announced that the party will conduct its primary election on May 28, 2021 ahead of the July 24 date for the local council poll.

The Youth Party also announced 50 percent slash on nomination fee for female aspirants as well as persons with disabilities.

The statement reads: “The Youth Party will conduct its Primary Election on May 28, 2021 ahead of the July 2021 Lagos State Local Government election.

“The decision was reached following the resolution of the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on the conduct of the Party’s primaries for the July 2021 Lagos State Local Government election in conformity with the constitution of the party, the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), the Lagos State Local Government (Administration) Law, and the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) Guidelines.”

“The party hereby releases the Timetable, Guidelines and Schedule of activities for the conduct of its Primary Election as follows: 1. Sale of Forms from May 4th-20th May, 2021 at the Lagos State Chapter Secretariat, 360, Herbert Macaulay, Sabo Yaba, Lagos or online at www.youthpartyng.com. Contact the State Secretary on 0802907065 or the State Organizing Secretary on 08030564264 for further clarification; Screening will take on 21st and 22nd May, 2021; Appeals, 24th and 25th May, 2021; Primaries will hold on 28th May, 2021, while Appeals arising from Primaries takes place 31st May, 2021.”

On obtaining its nomination and expression forms, the party stated: “An aspirant is obtain the Expression of Interest Form from the State Secretariat of the Party or such other place as may be designated by the National Working Committee of the Party, and, on completion, return same to the State Secretariat or scan an email of same to the Party at admin@youthpartyng.com or such other place as may be designated by the National Working Committee.

“An Aspirant is expected to obtain the Nomination form from the State Secretariat of the Party or such other place designated by the National Working Committee of the Party and evidenced upon payment of the prescribed non-refundable fee of N50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira) for Chairmanship, N25,000.00 (Twenty Five Thousand Naira)for Vice Chairmanship and N20,000.00 (Twenty Thousand Naira) for Councillorship; save that female aspirants and persons with disabilities (PWDs) shall pay 50% (half) of the prescribed nomination fee.”

The statement further read: “Kindly note that guidelines for the primaries are open and accessible for transparency on the party’s website: https://youthpartyng.com. Voting will be innovative and convenient as we are adopting electronic means: online and SMS. It will be secured, monitored by candidates and INEC, and secret as required by the law. The members’ list/voters list for each constituency or elective position will be available to all aspirants without discrimination.

“The Youth Party is committed to expanding the democratic space by providing a level playing field for all aspirants on its platform. We encourage anyone who aspires to contest in a free and fair primary to join the Party at www.youthpartyng.com/join-movement/ Likewise, persons interested in voting for a candidate of their choice in a party primaries without fear or favour, are encouraged to join the Party. The Party preaches transparent political leadership and followership that frowns at money politics, bribery, violence, ‘short termism’, repression and corruption.

Further information and guidelines on the conduct of the July 2021 Lagos Local Government election primaries are available on the Party’s website.

Internal party democracy, also known as intra-party democracy, refers to the levels and methods of including party members in the decision making and deliberation within the party structure. It is primarily concerned with participatory and inclusive decision making. [1]

Thus, lack of internal democracy weakens party unity and is a threat to any country’s democracy. It also leads to chaos and often violence due to the resultant discontent. Nigerians cannot enjoy the dividends of democracy from any party that chooses candidates against internal democratic principles by discouraging competence, accountability and transparent leadership.

In Nigeria, there are laws and subsidiary regulations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on internal party activities regarding party registration, candidate selection and leadership elections. For example, the INEC Regulations for the 2018 primary elections states that a 21 days’ notice of the primary election stating the type of primaries and the notice shall state the date, place and time of the primary elections. The said notice will be accompanied with necessary documents such as names of aspirants, members of the primary election panel, list of delegates (for indirect primaries), register of members (for direct primaries) amongst others.

Also, the Regulation stipulates that where a political party intends to postpone any scheduled primary election, the party shall inform INEC of the postponement not later than seven (7) days to the new date. The party is also required to clearly state the reasons for rescheduling, the new date and the venue.

The Nigerian 2018 Story

The recent conduct of parties primaries in Nigeria show clearly that a good number of Nigerian political parties do not practice internal democracy. Indeed, it can be concluded that a lot of them detest the concept. A serving Senator had this to say about internal democracy in the All Progressives Congress (APC):

“In APC, there are three ways by which you can emerge as a candidate: the first way is either you have someone at the Presidency who can call the people in NWC and tell the Chairman that your name should be included as a candidate. Number two, it is either you are in the favored book of a governor, who himself can use his own influence to compel the Chairman to remove somebody’s name. Number three is if you have the money to pay your way. Now, how can a party that has committed itself to change in Nigeria portrayed and purported itself as an offshoot of good governance behave this way”[i] [2]

In any political system that allows for internal democracy, party members know the rules, their rights, powers and obligations in selecting their leaders or candidates for the party. The opposite is usually the case where internal democracy is absent.

Internal party democracy cannot thrive in political parties where power is concentrated in one or few leaders, who impose their wishes and preferred candidates on members of the party. This gives room for discontent, resentment by party members and many times incompetent and unresponsive candidates, who see no reason to do the general will of the people.

We have witnessed cases where party members who were eligible to contest were denied the right to buy nomination forms. In other cases, some aspirants bought expensive nomination forms, met the necessary requirements, were screened out and were not given enough time to appeal the screening results.

Noteworthy is the idea of “consensus candidacy”, which allows for a few privileged party officials to decide who should be given the Party’s ticket, rather than a majority of the party members deciding who their representatives should be. The idea of a consensus candidate presupposes a situation where there is no opposition. However, Section 87 (6) of the Electoral Act of 2010, prescribes how a consensus candidate can emerge, where it clearly states that:

 “Where there is only one aspirant in a political party for any of the elective positions mentioned in sub section (4)(a), (b), (c) and (d), the party shall convene a special convention or congress at a designated center on a specified date for the confirmation of such aspirant and the name of the aspirant shall be forwarded to the Commission as the candidate of the party”.

Stories abound where primary elections were postponed from day to day or annulled without prior notice to aspirants, members of the parties and INEC as required by law.[3] [4]In another instance, the primary election was postponed about three times and when it eventually held, it was annulled by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. Subsequently in a strange and unprecedented manner, the same National Chairman of the party reaffirmed the election that had been earlier annulled.[5] [6]

Whilst, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regulation requires that the names of delegates, venue and time for the primary election are meant to be forwarded to INEC and the aspirants, 21 days before the primary elections. Nonetheless, party chieftains hold on to these information for their ulterior motives.  For example, Prof. Pat Utomi, a professor of political economics, stated that he did not know the venue of the primaries election, where he was an aspirant. He expressed his frustration in a letter to the APC national leadership thus:

 “Until such a date when all aspirants must know who the delegates are in advance, and are able to have access to them to canvass for their votes as a minimum basis for free, fair and credible primary elections.” [7]

In another instance, a viral video shows the State Chairman of a party making frantic efforts to cajole the national organizing secretary of the party to change the names of winners of the party’s primary elections after their names had been publicly declared. The stories of brazen disregard for internal democracy are endless. [8]

The House of Representatives in former times had a debate on the issue and set up a committee to investigate the subject and make recommendation on it. According to the former speaker of House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara; lack of internal democracy in political parties is a threat to democracy itself.[9]

In the same vein, The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has presented a petition requesting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to jointly investigate allegations of corruption during the recently held primaries.[10]

Youth Party’s cardinal ideology is the expansion of democratic space by adherence to the principles of internal democracy and open primaries (One Member One Vote – OMOV). The Party not only preaches but also practices and promotes the culture of internal democracy. Our party commenced its primary election process by publishing its primary election guidelines and providing a timetable for the purchase of forms, screening of candidates, primary elections and post-primary election appeal. [11] [12] [13]

In conclusion, internal party democracy is not premised on members participating in the decision-making process only, but also, political parties adopting an open system that will give party members opportunities to know the rules and contest in elections starting from the primaries.

We must move past the era of anointed candidates as flag bearers. The anointing should be in the will of the people.

[1] http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/archive/questions/replies/110615365

[2] https://www.tribuneonlineng.com/172003/ Senator Shehu Sani, Sunday Tribune, 4th November, 2018, page 25

[3] https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/lagos-pdp-governorship-primary-postponed-for-the-4th-time.html

[4] https://punchng.com/apc-panel-cancels-lagos-governorship-primary-postpones-exercise/

[5] https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/287603-apc-postpones-governorship-primaries-in-lagos-adamawa-others.html             

[6] https://tvcnews.tv/2018/10/breaking-oshiomhole-affirms-lagos-governorship-primaries/

[7] https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/south-south-regional/287474-pat-utomi-cries-foul-demands-   postponement-of-delta-apc-primaries.html

[8] https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zg68OB8sqloQc_0Hf4q0glUNFyuPnnVh

[9] https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/reps-to-probe-party-primaries.html

[10] https://twitter.com/serapnigeria/status/1061722509714866179?s=12

[11] https://youthpartyng.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/YP-Guidelines-for-Primaries-v0.4-PRINT-QUALITY.pdf

[12] https://guardian.ng/news/youth-party-announces-election-primaries/amp/?F=&__twitter_impression=true

[13] https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/08/25/youth-party-election-primaries-to-hold-next-month/

The Youth Party has frowned at the continuous waste of public resources on irrelevant overheads and consumption by the federal government.

The Party, in a statement by its National Chairman, Tomiwa Aladekomo expressed great displeasure at the country’s sustenance of government’s non-productive recurrent expenditure, unlike other countries of the world that adopt quantitative easing to stimulate the economy.

It noted that while it wasn’t uncommon for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to print money, the issue lies with what that money is used to fund, adding, “In our case, unfortunately, it is unnecessary overheads and consumption.”

The statement followed the warning by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki on April 8 that the country was facing a serious economic problem as the CBN printed N60bn, which was added to what was shared at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee by three levels of government in March.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, however explained the practice of printing money for the government to borrow, noting that it is a practice in other economies of the world.

The Party chair while calling for urgent steps to reset and diversify the economy, said it was inappropriate of the country to print money with the current state of inflation, devaluation and interest rate without it being targeted at boosting productivity.

The Party noted: “However, we are worried that rather than using quantitative easing as it is the case with other countries of the world to spur productivity and drive economic growth, ours is geared at sustaining government’s non-productive recurrent expenditure, funding overheads, debts and a bloated government.”

“For instance, the federal government last year budgeted N128, billion for the National Assembly alone, a figure that was more that what was budgeted for UBEC (N70 billion) and basic health care (N35 billion) combined.

“This is a serious threat to the country’s macroeconomic stability as it will further weaken the exchange rate and push the country into hyper-inflation.”

Aladekomo further advised: “We must begin to look into various sectors of the economy, particularly the growth enhancing areas of our economy. We must begin to develop the right strategies to reset and grow the nation’s economy.

“The Federal Government can take a cue from our ‘Bold Revenue Plan’ which advises, amongst other things, the cutting down of government’s expenditure, reduction of the bloated cost of governance and increase in revenue through blocking tax loopholes. The government must pay urgent attention to production enhancing activities that can create jobs and grow the economy.”

…says APC, Buhari have failed Nigerians
The Youth Party has urged the federal government to step up efforts to tackle insecurity, review some of its monetary policies and take urgent measures towards reforming key sectors of the Nigerian economy so as to tackle rising inflation and alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.

The Youth Party, in a statement by its Chair, Tomiwa Aladekomo, expressed disappointment over the mismanagement of the economy by the Federal Government which it noted has continued to drive inflation and unemployment, thereby inflicting pain and hardship on citizens.

The Party was reacting to the March 2021 Consumer Price Index/Inflation Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday. The data revealed that Nigeria’s inflation rate has continued to rise as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation increased to 18.17 per cent (year-on-year) in March; the highest reported in four years, since April 2017.

The Party noted that the new data from the NBS is a clear indication that the nation is heading towards a severe economic crisis under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government.

Aladekomo, while charging the government to support macroeconomic policies that will drive growth he further called for a deliberate policy of investing in infrastructure, among others, to ease the means of doing business in the country.

Noting that the APC-led government has failed to deliver real dividends of democracy to citizens of the country, he added that all indices of social and economic development in the country, including the worsening security situation, were in the negative.

According to him, “While many Nigerians are struggling to stay alive, we continue to receive news of rising inflation with unemployment rate growing at frightening dimensions; insecurity is worsening, the cost of transportation has quadrupled, plus the continued decline in domestic and direct foreign investments, all due to the uncertainty created by Federal Government’s management of the socioeconomic issues.

“We must act now before the situation worsens.”

Covid-19 Vaccination- Nigeria Response.

As of 31 March 2021, the total number of confirmed cases was 162,891; discharged patients was 151648, and 2057 deaths in all the states, including the federal capital territories.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about coronaviruses’ structure and function, causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a significant commitment to addressing COVID-19.
In Phase III trials, several COVID-19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections. As of April 2021, 13 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), five conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, WIBP-CorV, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidecia, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer).

In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase III trials, and 16 in Phase III development.

In the light of this, many players in the COVID-19 vaccine market, the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, has assured that only WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines will be introduced in the country. Also, depending on availability, it will inform the prioritization of the rolling out of vaccines.

On 2 March 2021, COVAX (Collaboration of WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and CEPI) shipped in 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine Abuja, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. This was an effort by the COVAX team to deliver at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of 2021.

This first batch of Covid 19 vaccine by Covax makes Nigeria the 3rd country in Africa to get the vaccine. It also came with a lot of congratulatory messages from different parts of the world. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization Director-General, was among those hailing the jabs’ arrival in Nigeria.

Upon the vaccines’ arrival, though there were some logistics constraints, they shipped in batches to Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for final assessment and approval. The training was also organized for all health workers across the country on the vaccination exercise.

On 7 March, President Muhammad Buhari as the first citizen of Nigeria, received his first jab of the COVID 19 vaccination. This was in fulfillment with the rolling out phase of the vaccination exercise. The roll-out phase is as follows:

First Phase – Frontline workers and Strategic Leadership
Second Phase – Individuals between age 50 and above
Third Phase – Individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 with underlying health conditions like diabetes.
Last Phase- Individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 without any underlying health conditions.

The first step to getting vaccinated is to book an appointment with NPHCDA on their website.

But despite these outlined phases, it was observed that there is no restriction on who can register on the website.

The vaccination dates are issued without any check for eligibility of different population groups. With this approach, the different phases of the vaccination exercise seem not to be working.

Some centers listed on the website are not carried along with the program. Making the whole process of the vaccination exercise look like Nigeria is not delivering as they have said.

Although putting an end to this health crisis and achieving herd immunity might not take place until 2024, coupled with the surrounding issues on the vaccination, but there is great optimism that the effective measure put in place by the NCDC during the pandemic, if not abandoned, will prevent a third wave of the virus in Nigeria.

As hospitals are now being crowded with COVID-19 patients, government and citizens alike must avoid crowded places that could serve as super-spreaders of the virus.

The National Identity Card registration points across the country is a typical case in point. The crowds at those centres are not only worrying but could be potentially catastrophic as very little attention is being paid to social distancing and other precautionary measures.

If the government insists on the announced deadline for the registration, then it must seek ways of eliminating the red tapes and partnering with relevant institutions (or the private sector) that will bring registration points close to the doorsteps of most Nigerians.

This will make the process seamless and efficient – without mentioning the thousands of jobs that will be created.

However, if the government remains adamant in its approach, then it must suspend the registration until the coronavirus has been effectively contained. Our country can avert a major health crisis by applying a common-sense approach.