The vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Professor Sagir Adamu-Abbas, has stated that the dearth of ideology among political parties in Nigeria is a major obstacle that has hampered the nation’s progress.

In his remarks at a public lecture on Monday in Kano, at the sixth annual Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) day commemorating the organization’s 72nd anniversary (1950–2022), Prof. Adamu-Abbas made this claim.

Speaking during the lecture on “Party Politics and Electoral Violence in Nigeria” hosted by the Aminu Kano Center for Democratic Studies at Bayero University in Kano, he said that the majority of political parties in existence today lack clear platforms and ideas.

Prof. Sani Mohammed-Gumel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academics, spoke on his behalf when he said that “at the moment, political parties seem to only exist for the purpose of nominating candidates for elections.” Politicians attend events in an effort to obtain party passes, he claimed.

He claimed that NEPU was created on August 8, 1950, with the objective of waging a vigorous struggle against colonialism and seeking the entrenchment of democracy as a way of life.

But unlike NEPU, he pointed out, “the current political parties are neither supreme in terms of organization nor defined by ideologies.”

“The poverty of ideology is one of the major challenges facing party politics in Nigeria.”

Thus, he said, “there is no doubt that the history of NEPU serves as additional evidence that historical lessons can be applied to effectively address contemporary and future political issues.”

He declared: “I urged all of my compatriots to say ‘no’ to violence during elections and ‘big no’ to poor leadership.”

“Remember that in a democracy, the people have a great deal of power. The only way that authority may be rightfully used is by holding credible, free, and fair elections.

Prof. Abubakar Siddique-Mohammed, Director of the Center for Democratic Development, Research and Training in Zaria, gave the lecture. He urged the federal government to step up efforts to address security concerns before to the 2023 elections in order to allow the citizens to exercise their civic rights.

Additionally, he urged Nigerians to abstain from election violence and choose respectable candidates who can advance the nation.