Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, has advocated independent candidates for electives posts in Nigeria, saying the phenomenon will end the era of godfatherism.
George spoke alongside Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, during the commissioning of Omerelu Internal roads in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers.
The PDP chieftain again reiterated the need for the restructuring of the country along political and fiscal lines.
“If this country is restructured equitably, the current revenue-sharing formula which the Federal Government collects 52.6%…will stop.
“If this country is restructured poltically, responsible politicking through independent candidate will be introduced into our politics which will automatically knock out godfatherism from our politics,” he said.
“To have an egalitarian society, restructuring is the answer, if we want Nigeria to survive as a nation. That is why we are agitating that our nation be restructured and our political and economic powers must be derived legitimate from the people,” George added.
The Senate earlier in the year passed a bill to allow independent candidates to contest for all elective positions including the office of the president and governors but the bill cannot be said to have made any headway.
Currently, there are 18 political parties in Nigeria as approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Persons desirous of political positions have jostled to secure slots in these parties with some of them paying as high as N100 million for nomination fee each.
