Dr Paul Okorie, a former Commissioner for Works and Transportation in Ebonyi, and other political stakeholders in the state have warned political parties against imposition of candidates.
The stakeholders spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abakaliki.
They urged political parties to ensure that their flag-bearers emerged through free, fair and transparent selection process.
They also said that no attempt should be made to organise mock primaries, stressing that party members should be freely allowed to pick flag bearers,
According to them, imposition or undemocratic way of choosing candidates could engender apathy which could also lead to the enthronement of unpopular leaders.
Okorie, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that members of political parties should be allowed to scrutinise and select candidates of their choice.
He said that imposition was anti-democracy which did not allow for emergence of credible and popular leaders.
“I am a proponent of direct primaries because it allows people to freely participate in the selection of party flag bearers and I think that democracy is all about mass participation in decision taking,” he said.
NAN reports that the reworked Electroral Bill awaiting Presidential Muhammadu Buhari’s assent, contains provision for indirect, direct and consensus methods of choosing flag bearers in any election.
“If the bill is signed, it will be a major breakthrough in our quest to deepen our democracy,” Okorie said.
He said that, through imposition, many leaders who lacked democratic values had emerged, calling on the people to change the narrative in 2023.
“I think that our democracy will further be strengthened and good governance enhanced when we give opportunity to people to participate in selecting or electing those who will lead them,” he added.
Similarly, Dr Haroun Aja, also a chieftain of the APC, noted that imposition was a negation of the principle and ideals of democracy.
“Imposition, in the first place, it is against the spirit of democracy, a government of the people by the people and for the people.
“This means that people are allowed to participate and choose who is going to represent them; democracy is all about representative leadership in which majority are allowed to choose the best among the lot.
“If you impose on the majority, it becomes coercion and what it means is that the principle of democracy and good governance are being thwarted,” Aja said.
Aja, who is also the vice president, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said that imposition at any level, including ward, local, zonal, state or federal levels, negated the principle and practice of democracy.
To Chief Austin Edeze, a chieftain of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), democracy thrive when people are given the opportunity to have a say in choosing those that would lead them.
Edeze, a former chairman of the Ebonyi State Universal Education Board (ESUBEB), added that imposition of candidates bred political apathy and ‘unfit’ leaders.
He called on political parties to create opportunities for members to take part in determining who would fly their flags.
“Imposition strangles good governance because it destroys the ideals, principles and practice of democracy,” Edeze said. (NAN)