2027: No candidate can win election without party support — NDC chieftain

A chieftain of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Asukewe Ikoawaji, has said politicians seeking elective office must operate within the structures and rules of their political parties to stand a chance of winning elections.

Ikoawaji made the remarks while discussing the role of political parties and the responsibilities of candidates on ARISE News ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He said Nigeria does not currently provide for independent candidates, meaning people seeking elective positions must contest under registered political parties.

“Every Nigerian who feels or wants to contest election contests it under a political party,” Ikoawaji said.

He explained that political parties operate under constitutions and guidelines which candidates are expected to follow if they want to pursue their political ambitions through the parties.

“The truth is very clear. Each of the political parties has a constitution. Each of the political parties has a guideline. And for you to drive your ambitions through the political party, you must abide by the rules,” he said.

According to him, the importance of party structures cuts across all levels of elective office, from the presidency to state and legislative positions.

He argued that the name of an individual candidate does not appear independently on the ballot in Nigeria, stressing that the political party remains central to the electoral process.

“There is no individual name that will be found on the ballot, it is the party. So if you take away the party, nobody can run the election,” he said.

Ikoawaji added that presidential, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates all owe loyalty to the parties under which they contest.

“You own that loyalty to the party,” he said.

He also cited the experience of former President Muhammadu Buhari as an illustration of what he described as the consequences of operating outside established party structures.

Ikoawaji said Buhari did not lose three presidential elections because he lacked popular support, but because he allegedly operated a political organisation separately from the party structure.

“I am an insider. I played a major role. I was National Vice Chairman South-South of the deformed All-Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP. I was Deputy National Chairman South. So I have been an insider,” he said.

He maintained that adherence to party constitutions and guidelines was essential for politicians seeking to achieve their ambitions through political parties.

Ikoawaji also said he welcomed recent Supreme Court decisions which, in his view, demonstrated that there was still hope for Nigeria’s democratic system.

“That is to say that there is a hope in Nigerian democracy,” he said.