The Nigeria Political Science Association (NPSA), at the weekend, urged the Federal Government to ensure that moneybags do not hijack the polity and stifle democracy in the country.
  
To this end, the group canvassed the government’s funding of political parties for civil rule to survive.
  
President of NPSA, Prof. Hassan Salihu, in Ilorin, Kwara State, described the roles of political parties as critical to the survival of democracy and its growth.
  
“Some of us believe that by the time we focus on the political parties and get them to perform well optimally, 70 per cent of Nigeria’s political problems will be solved,” he said. 
  
Salihu, who described political parties as the engine room of democracy, added: “If they are healthy, democracy will perform well, and if they are not, it will affect democracy too.”  
  
He continued: “In the context of Nigeria, no one can gain a political position without being in a political party. This means that we cannot ignore the happenings in the political parties.  
  
“Because we put the government there, we elected them. So, Nigerians should focus on political parties. Their unhealthy state is negatively affecting democracy in Nigeria.” he lamented.
  
The don observed that party leaders have become officers on posting, “because they don’t have access to contracts, some people who dictate to them provide them the opportunity. So, they are supposed to be public institutions. 
  
“But are they really in Nigeria? No! And that’s why some of us in NPSA are of the opinion that one of the ways to address the issue is that the government should fund political parties. Let the government do the funding. 
   
“And the rationale is that, if you give me money and I generate money on my own, I have the right to spend it the way I want it. You only have the legitimacy to ask me to account for it.

“That’s why INEC hasn’t been totally successful in auditing the accounts of political parties because if you don’t fund them, they look elsewhere, and moneybags hijack the party and post their personal assistants (PAs) to be secretaries and chairmen,” he stated.

According to the NPSA chief, “the idea of government funding political parties is not a strange one, there are countries of the world where parties are funded.” 
  
“Put the money down and put an effective mechanism in place. So, if one party is misbehaving, you discipline the party,” he urged.