Nigerian democracy has been described as the most expensive in the world, in view of the overhead cost of governance and its lack of corresponding development in the country.
Former Gubernatorial Candidate of Movement for Restoration of Democracy and Development (MRDD), Retired Colonel Suleiman Babanawa said this at the commemoration of the 10th year anniversary of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Kogi State Chapter in Lokoja the state capital.
He was the Guest Speaker at the event where he presented a paper on Nigerian Democracy to an audience that had members of the CNPP from the 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi State, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) executives, commissioners and special advisers, as well as the traditional head of Lokoja.
In his paper, he reiterated that democracy still remained the best form of government for Nigeria while a military system of government is an aberration. He however advised that the legislative arms of government should be made less attractive and should be on part time basis, adding that the huge amount used for salary of the legislators could be used for other developmental projects.
The CNPP Chairman, Mr Abubakar Aliu stated that the CNPP in the last ten years in the state has fared well on his role as umbrella body for political parties, adding that it has provided peace in the state for a touted fledgling democracy. He also stated that at critical moments they have subjected the government to listening to dispassionate and unbiased analyses.
The Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada who was represented by the State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Abdulmumuni Usman was later honoured with the Grand Patron of the CNPP. Also honoured was a traffic controller whom the CNPP said has been very dedicated to his work.
In a separate interview, Retired Colonel Babanawa pointed out that there was no basis talking about National Conference; rather the country should be speaking about a National Conference on corruption and how to develop the country. He stressed that insecurity and insurgency are the major threats to democracy, advising that Nigerians should emphasize the ideology of leadership and not the ideology of politics.
