Abdullah Omaki, former Nigerian ambassador to Chad, has criticised the country's political parties for lacking clear ideologies to guide governance. He spoke in an interview in Abuja on Sunday, describing parties as ineffective structures that fail to shape policy or hold leaders accountable. According to Mr Omaki, political parties should function as "schools of public leadership" and use their manifestos to direct government actions. Elected officials, he said, are expected to implement party agendas and deliver democratic dividends to citizens.
Mr Omaki stressed that when leaders perform, credit should go to the party framework enabling such outcomes. "Based on those achievements, people can assess the party and judge its performance in the next election," he said. He lamented that public praise is often directed at individuals rather than parties, distorting accountability. He warned that without reform, Nigeria risks falling behind smaller countries in West Africa in governance and coordination.
He compared the current system unfavourably with the Second Republic, when party leadership had authority over elected officials. During that period, presidents and governors were bound by party decisions, he noted. Today, he said, governors lead their state branches and the president leads the national party, creating a fusion of powers. "There is no separation of power," Mr Omaki said. He called for structural reform to create a clear separation between party and government roles to restore discipline in politics.
Omaki criticises party leaders for merging political and governmental power while calling for separation of powers they themselves have dissolved. His own example of the Second Republic shows parties once controlled leaders, but now leaders control parties. This shift means performance is credited to individuals, not systems, weakening institutional accountability. Until that changes, manifestos will remain decorative, not operational.
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