The founding national secretary, Alliance for Democracy, (AD), and a. fellow at the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts. Professor Udenta Udenta, has called on presidential candidates to commit to post-election dialogue before the polls to promote national unity and democratic stability.
In an interview on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, he said the proposed dialogue should bring together presidential candidates, political party leaders, labour unions, academics, journalists and civil society representatives, irrespective of the outcome of the elections.
“Inter-party collaboration exists as an infrastructure to guide political parties in conversations among themselves, in relation to INEC (that’s why we have IPAC), and in ensuring that institutions of government, public office, and the state really impinge on how political parties do their job.
“It is simpler than that, and the force is simple. Assuming you get the structure, and you have a body of patriots—six men and six women—who are part of driving it, the fixed intervention is going to be: Do the parties accept the necessity to have this broad-based dialogue post-election?
“That means a day after the election—no matter who wins, whether it’s complicated, whether it’s a hung election, whether we are going to be contesting elections somewhere down in the court, whether it’s a runoff election—do we have that appetite as Nigerians to say a day must come after the elections where we must exist or coexist in this space?”
Udenta warned that political rivalry and the struggle for power could threaten national stability, urging political leaders to embrace dialogue before the elections, even if only a few candidates initially support the initiative.
“There is going to be a rollercoaster journey towards a predetermined end: an end that is a bitter struggle for power, sometimes in January and leading into February. If you look at the language of the day, very many opposition parties are not even presenting or contesting anything in court anymore.
“It’s important that even three out of 20 say, ‘This makes a lot of money/sense, let’s pause and give it a thought.’ Let us not say because the big parties are meeting, ‘We are going to win, so why bother?’ We must engage them.”
Citing Nigeria’s 1999 transition to civilian rule, Udenta argued that inter-party cooperation could strengthen democracy without weakening governance, urging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition parties to engage in dialogue to prevent another national crisis.
“I understand that, but a part of it is to strengthen democracy. If the opposition joins the government, who remains responsible for challenging the president, scrutinizing policy, and holding the administration accountable? I can tell you who would do it. A brilliant example that was not even fully managed very well was 1999.
“Inside 1999, Obasanjo won handsomely. He didn’t need anybody—they didn’t need anybody to work with him. But it was still a transition—that combustible moment in which a nation was officially lost.
“What did they create? An inter-party office. And the chairman of the PDP at that moment became a central adviser with cabinet-level clearance.
“We must not stick with things as we know it, because it is not even ours. I’m not prescribing this as an immediate act. It’s like working progress. The first step is: Is this commission viable? We tend to agree somewhat that there may be some variability around it.
Ultimately, constitutional matters will require constitutional debate, but it must start as a thought, as an impulse, to say: You have a commission that has some sense of direction, in patriotic articulation or possibilities.”
Udenta however acknowledged that there was no clear alternative to his proposal, warning that declining public trust in institutions, including the courts, made it necessary to engage political parties and candidates in dialogue to protect democracy and Nigeria’s future.
“To be candid, and I’ll talk about this in a moment of quiet reflection, the most disturbing part is not even with you to say, ‘I can’t think of anything.’
“The courts, unfortunately—not just in Nigeria, across the globe—public institutions no longer hold the trust of the people.
“If in the process we sign up and do not engage the parties and the candidates—even if they do not engage in the presidency and you know how they’ve tormented them for years here—I don’t know what else it looks like, but I have to engage with whoever, because it makes a lot of sense to engage, beginning with: I have a better attraction for who I’m supporting.
“And then others are not supporting, whether they’re blending themselves for the sake of democracy, for the sake of the health of the nation, and the future possibilities of our people.”
Favour Odima
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