Military Taught Politicians In Power How To Hijack Parties -Akande

Military Taught Politicians In Power How To Hijack Parties -Akande

The first National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has expressed worries over the overbearing power of government over political parties in Nigeria, saying that they learnt it from the military era.
Akande, who spoke on Monday at his country home in Ila, Osun State, in a meeting with Pan Yoruba group, the Yoruba Patriotic Movement, maintained that political parties should be independent of government legislation. He argued that political parties are neither part of government structure nor agencies of government.
Akande, who described the control of political parties by government as the pervasion of military mentality in the Nigerian political system, said that the operators of political system and the Nigerian political parties are still operating with the military mentality of ‘governance with impunity’.
The former Osun governor noted that the military orientation of controlling the political parties after leaving power is still being practiced by the democratic government in the country, whereas it is the people of like minds who ought to get together, form their party and run it the way they deem fit.
He noted that when the military left government, its agenda of controlling  political parties was achieved through various electoral regulations since most political operators learnt under the military.
The military, according to Akande, introduced governance with impunity into the government and the political parties.
He lamented that majority of the current political party leaders grew or learn politics under the military arrangement, saying that those who knew what the military did have left the shores of political leadership.
“Political party grew in hierarchy system in those days; whether you are tailor, bricklayer, carpenter or whoever, you must learn politics through your political party. You cannot just rise up and say you want to become this, you want to become that in the party. You must learn first. Political party was a leadership training ground.
“But the military deliberately killed that system. The military wanted to be controlling the political party after they left power. The military created political parties like NRC, SDP during Babangida’s time; we would remember the five leprosy fingers of General Sani Abacha. After they left government, they made regulations for the political parties through the civilian government.
“Up till date, military mentality still pervades our political system. Unfortunately, those who knew the military plan have left the political party leadership. Majority of the people at the leaderships of political parties are those who grew or learned politics in the military arrangement”, he said.

Speaking on the degeneration of ‘core value’ in Nigeria, particularly in Yorubaland, Akande said it was difficult to get a sincere and good future leader among the youths, since the recruitment of such leaders is from a debased background.