Former spokesman to ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Mr Laolu Akande, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo played a major role in weakening party politics in Nigeria by subordinating party structures to presidential power.
Akande made the claim during an interview on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, where he argued that Obasanjo’s leadership style reshaped Nigeria’s political culture in ways that diminished the authority of political parties.
According to him, “One of the reasons why all of these uninspiring dispensations of party politics are upon us is because the nature of party politics in Nigeria has been heavily devalued, heavily destroyed starting from when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in office as our civilian leader.
“It was Obasanjo who taught us how to effectively subdue parties and their structures under the presidency.”
Akande said Nigeria previously enjoyed strong party systems during the Second and Third Republics, citing the Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention as examples of parties whose leaders wielded significant influence, even over presidential candidates.
“In both republics, the political parties and their national leaders had serious clout over and above presidential candidates and even the president,” he said.
He recalled an incident involving the late Chief Audu Ogbeh, a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, who reportedly told Obasanjo, “I’m not your cook but your party chairman, so talk to me with respect.”
Akande questioned whether any party chairman today could make such an assertion, noting that Obasanjo had earlier sidelined Solomon Lar, the founding chairman of the PDP.
“Whether Obasanjo knew it or not, what he was doing was wrecking party politics in Nigeria. He went on to determine party candidates for gubernatorial and presidential elections,” Akande added.
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