Why Nigeria needs two strong parties, by Onu

A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, at the weekend listed the benefits inherent in having two strong political parties in the polity.

Speaking while receiving officials of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) at his residence in Abuja, he argued that there would be effective competition in the political turf when there are two strong political parties competing for the support of Nigerians.

Onu also remarked that two strong political parties with evenly spread support base would engender the much needed national integration and economic development in the polity.

The former governor of old Abia state, presidential candidate of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) and later national chairman of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) argued that the emergence of the APC as the ruling party is good for Nigerians.

This, he said, has led to a situation whereby both the APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are not only firmly rooted but enjoy the support of Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic and religious leanings.

According to him: “Nigeria operates a multi party system. By our constitution, we cant have two parties; we must have many parties, but what we believe is good for the nation is that there must be at least two parties that are strong enough so that at any given time one of them can form government. So you can be a governing party today and then tomorrow you go into opposition. That way we can have effective competition in the political arena. That is essentially what the APC has achieved for Nigeria.

“The PDP, now opposition political party that used to be the governing party, today controls 13 states, and more than one third the members of the National Assembly. “