Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that it is not fashionable to expect the Federal Government to fund political parties at this critical period of Nigeria’s democratic advancement.
He stated that using the government’s money to run the parties is an indirect invitation for it to assume control of the political parties by dictating choices and policies that might be in conflict with the tenets of democracy.
Gbajabiamila also argued that the international best practice was for parties to be self-funded, adding that using the government’s money would also lead to the proliferation of political parties.
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He made the remarks on Wednesday while receiving a delegation of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The speaker stated that people would simply abuse the process by registering hundreds of political parties in the hope of cashing out on free government money.
“I am not sure how many countries fund their political parties; we will have to do research and to be sure that it’s international best practice …Government is an interested party if it will be providing the funds,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by his media aide, Lanre Lasisi.
“That will also mean they can compromise the system. There is also proliferation (of parties) that will become a problem if the government begins to fund the parties since there will be free money,” he stated.
Elections: Why Govt Cannot Fund Political Parties – Gbajabiamila
