A chieftain of the All ProgressiveCongress, APC, Prince Tajudeen Olusi has said that party discipline which was the hallmark of politics in the First and Second Republic has broken down irretrievably .
Speaking exclusively with National Mirror, Olusi who was the South West Vice Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria , ACN before the formation of APC said there was more sanity in the politics of the First and the Second Republic than now.
“Well to me it appears we have more sanity at that time than now. I want to state that even at that time the constitution of Nigeria prescribes that those who would be in the House of Representatives and the Senate, even in the state House of Assemblies, the various legislative bodies, they were to be sponsored by a political party. So it means that the political parties would produce the executive , the political parties would also produced the legislature and eventually the political parties also have responsibility for the production of the judiciary.
I think that it needs to be emphasised because most of the judicial appointments are to be sanctioned either by the House of Assembly or the Senate and so therefore , the party that produced all these ultimately has the responsibility for the full administration of the country .
“What I am trying to say is that members of the Houses were more loyal to their respective parties because we were there to ensure the implementation of the various manifestoes of our parties . I am bold to say that we had more sanity then because the problems that we have in the various legislatures now is a fact that honourable members , the senators, do not follow the decisions of their respective parties.
You see members have rights to express their opinions but the democratic pattern is that once a decision is taken by the appropriate organ of the party , then you have to follow it”, he said.
He said people no longer obey party’s decision because ,“ presently I think most people have wrong interpretation of what we called the fundamental human rights .
People would argue that as individuals, they have their rights, they can keep their opinions but if there is no organisation to get a consensus which democracy has provided , there will be chaos .
So the main issue is the way they feel that they are right , they can talk , they can argue, they can pursue their own mission , or their views or objectives but democracy is predicated on consensus.
Once a decision is taken by the appropriate organ in accordance with democratic principles, you have to drop your own personal view and follow the majority“, he said.
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