A new report has revealed, political parties in Nigeria are becoming less important with voters largely making their choices about who to vote for based on personalities and their perceived ability to deliver.
Observations by the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, Election Analysis Centre, EAC on emerging outcomes of the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections indicated that voters’ decisions are linked to the performance of individuals rather than parties, none of which have particularly strong ideologies that they adhere to in Nigeria.
The pro-democracy think-tank disclosed this during its post-election press conference on Monday in Abuja where it also identified six areas that the 2023 governorship election has contributed, for better or for worse, to Nigeria’s ongoing democratic journey.
Jointly speaking on some of the implications, Chairman of the CDD EAC, Professor Adele Jinadu,and Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan,said “The failure of outgoing governors in Taraba, Abia, Enugu, Plateau, Cross River and Benue to win senatorial seats, despite, in some cases, their party winning the other senatorial seats in some states suggests that voters’ decisions are linked to the performance of individuals rather than parties.
Similarly, the reelection of governors from parties other than those supported for president speaks to increased perceptions of competence and personality over parties.
“These results should provide momentum to agitators for more party platforms alternatives to the dominant APC and PDP. The success of candidates who have left the party and been able to gain political influence could encourage more splintering and eventual balkanization of the major parties.
“The performance of elected governors and officials during the coming term will play a part in maintaining this momentum.
The duo noted that, “the incorporation of technological innovations such as BVAS and |ReV have not proven to be the silver bullets that were originally envisaged.
“While there has been marked progress, there are also needs for more resilient and adaptive administration mechanisms to enable the electoral process to build more accountable and transparent governance structures.
The centre concluded that with the scale of violence as seen in the elections, a wave of post-election litigation was likely. This situation, it warned , could result in courts determining the legality of the election mandates secured. “This has the added effect of seeing courts have a role in determining “elected” officials, further undermining voters’ sense that their vote is valued and has an impact on the outcome of an election process”
