A former House of Representatives member, Chief Sam Onuigbo, says the gale of defections in the nation’s political space can be minimised if parties practice internal democracy.
Onuigbo, who represented Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South Federal Constituency of Abia in the Sixth National Assembly, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
NAN reports that some political office holders, particularly members of the National Assembly, have recently defected from their respective political parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The most notable was the defection of four Labour Party members of the House of Representatives in one sitting, with all of them citing the crisis in the party for their defections.
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They were: Chinedu Okere (Owerri Municipal/Owerri North/Owerri West); Mathew Donatus (Kaura); Akiba Bassey (Calabar Municipal/Odukpani) and Esosa Iyawe (Oredo).
Also on Monday, a former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, announced his defection from APC to Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Onuigbo said that party leaders and administrators should create conducive environment for every member to express and achieve his/her political ambition.
“Defections are bye-products of mismanagement of parties by few people. Parties should be run according to laid down rules.
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“The problem is the conduct of party administrators and few individuals. They need to be democratic in their actions,’’ he said.
Speaking on local government autonomy, Onuigbo, who is also a climate change activist, said it was important that all necessary actions were taken to ensure its successful implementation.
According to him, it is good that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders in the process are leaving no stone unturned in the process, even as he urged citizens to exercise patience.
“We will definitely get there because after more than a quarter of a century of maladministration of local governments, there will be some form of push back,’’ he said.
