We Must Tinker with the Leadership Recruitment Process
BY UDOMA UDO UDOMA, CON
When I was elected into the Senate at the return to democracy in May 1999, those of us who were greenhorns were full of excitement. However, our excitement was dampened by some of the veteran politicians who reminded us that this might yet be another experiment in democracy that would not last. But 25 years later, we are still going strong. We have been able to manage several crises, including the death of a president in office. A sitting president was defeated by an opposition party candidate, and he conceded without a fight. We have had Southern Presidents, and we have had Northern Presidents. We have had Christian Presidents, and we have had Muslim Presidents. We have even had a President from a minority ethnic group. Our democracy has also survived a number of economic recessions, the Covid 19 Pandemic, Boko Haram militants in the North, secessionist agitators in the Southeast, farmers/herders’ clashes in the middle belt, end-SARS youth discontent and unrest in many parts of the country and militant activity in the Niger Delta.
For the last 25 years, despite concerns about Nigeria being turned into a one-party state, we have been able to sustain a competitive multi-party democracy. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was the dominant party for the first 16 years, controlling the Presidency, the National Assembly, and the majority of States. Since 2015, for the last nine years, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has now become the dominant party, controlling the Presidency, the National Assembly, and the majority of States. The last presidential election was indeed the most competitive. The winner, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, won with a vote tally of 8,794,726 which was only 36.61% of the total. The runner up, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP secured 6,984,520 (29.07% of the total). Meanwhile, Peter Obi, who ran on the platform of a relatively unknown Labour Party, was able to garner a total of 6,101,533, which was 25.4% of the popular votes. This tells us that our electoral system is maturing and that there is a real contest for the votes of the people.
There is also no doubt that democracy has delivered on political freedoms. Unlike under the military governments, Nigerians generally feel free to express their views (as they often do without restraint on social media) and associate with whoever they please, without let or hindrance. We are also able to criticize our leaders freely and every Nigerian is free to run for any office, provided he or she meets the minimum qualification required for that office. The press, which was constantly harassed under the military, is also relatively free and extremely lively. Nigerians are proud and jealous of these freedoms.
Notwithstanding these successes, there is no doubt that our democracy is still fragile. People complain that some of our political leaders display an extravagant and ostentatious lifestyle whilst many Nigerians are suffering. People also complain that whilst, unlike under the military, the courts are no longer controlled by the government, many of our judges are corrupt and sell judgements to the highest bidder. Many also feel that they are not seeing the economic dividends of democracy. I recall that when I was on the campaign trail there were constant demands for empowerment – both immediate, as in handouts and palliatives, and longer term, as in jobs.
With a population growing at about 2.4% per annum (UN projections) we need more and more jobs to meet the demands of the growing youth population. The slow jobs growth over the years, accentuated by the rising costs of living, is leading to rising dissatisfaction, forcing many of our young people to vote with their feet as they seek greener pastures elsewhere. There is no doubt that our leaders, particularly our Presidents, and our State Governors, have been under immense pressure from Nigerians to deliver better economic performance. We need greater economic success to assure the future of our democracy.
However, a very positive development which is playing a greater role than many realise in sustaining our democracy happened in 2006. One of the greatest triumphs of our democracy was in 2006 when the National Assembly was able to muster the courage to stop a move supported by the presidency to amend the Constitution to remove term limits for governors and the president. That move was decisively killed on the floor of the Senate. Even now, looking back as a player in that act, I am amazed that we managed to resist the intense political pressure that was mounted on us. This shows that, when it matters, Nigerian politicians can stand up to defend democracy.
The effect of what the National Assembly did is that, in Nigeria, the power of incumbency cannot be used, as in some other African countries, to perpetuate anyone in office. Our democracy is one in which we are guaranteed that every eight years, at the maximum, we will have new Governors, and a new President. This guarantee of constant renewal assures Nigerians that no leader will be with us forever. Therefore, as Nigerians, we know that if we don’t like a particular leader all we have to do is to exercise a little patience as we will have a change.
However, I am worried that the process of leadership selection is too random. Whilst there is a guarantee of constant renewal, there is nothing to suggest that the general direction of movement is towards improvement in the quality of our leaders. We have had many good leaders in the different arms of Government, and in the States – but we have had many more bad ones. And when we have good leaders, it is by luck. Indeed, a number of credible persons are put off by the process, particularly the party primaries. In many of the major political parties, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a candidate without substantial resources, or a major sponsor amongst the party chieftains, to win. This is an area that our political class will need to address.
We must find a way of improving the party primaries process to encourage our best and brightest to take part in the process, including those with limited resources. A suggestion I made when I was the Senate Chief Whip was for political parties to approach their candidate selection process the same way successful major corporations fill vacancies when they occur. Political parties might wish to consider setting up candidate selection advisory boards in each constituency consisting of credible individuals who have made their names in the business world, in the professions, in academics, in the civil service or in politics. Whilst ruling themselves out of consideration, it should be the responsibility of the members of these advisory boards to seek out talented and promising candidates with established track records, to enrich the field for candidate selection. In addition to asking for applications, head-hunters may be retained to seek out good candidates.
The final shortlist should be prepared after a rigorous interview process and the rationale for each person selected should be set out and available to all members of the party, as well as the general public, for scrutiny. The purpose of the shortlist should be simply to enrich the field as the people who make this final shortlist will still be subjected to the party primaries – whether direct or indirect, depending on the choice of the political party. Ideally these primaries should be conducted either by some form of electronic voting, or, at the very least, voter accreditation should be by some electronic means to give the process credibility. However, no member of the party should be excluded from contesting the party primaries, even those who do not make this shortlist. In this way, we can avoid any abuse of the screening process by the advisory boards. And also, to ensure some continuity, incumbents, who have not reached their term limits, should have an automatic right to participate in the party primaries without being subjected to any selection process.
I am sure that there are other suggestions that can be made to improve the party primaries process. Political Parties should welcome and seek out these ideas. It is important that the political class treat the reform of the party primaries process as a priority because, in the long run, we can only sustain our democracy if we can find a way to ensure a continuous pipeline of talented people from which to elect our leaders.
Let me congratulate all Nigerians as we celebrate 25 years of democracy.
UDOMA UDO UDOMA, CON Lawyer, former Senate Chief Whip and Budget and National Planning Minister between 2015 and 2019, Udoma has also chaired boards of several private and public entities, including the UAC of Nigeria Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) etc. He is a recipient of the highest award to a non-Japanese national – ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’
