Opinion: Party Structure And Its Essence In Electoral Victory

During election seasons in Nigeria, the concept of party structure is one of the most used phrases. Much so that the meaning of the concept is now trapped in confusion of sorts. Some say money is the ultimate party structure. Others say it is voters. Therefore, to even begin to access the usefulness of party structure, it’s important to first determine what party structure is.

Party structure refers to human beings, who are members of a particular political party. Whatever claims a political party may lay over its capacity to win any election is based upon its membership demographic. Party members are the channel through which any political party pursues its ambition of winning an election.  A political party with no state-wide membership cannot claim to have the structure to win a gubernatorial election in that state, no matter the amount of money within its candidate’s disposal. This also applies to the constituency and presidential elections.

Every political party is limited by its membership. Just in the same way every political party is strengthened by its membership. That is why APGA is strong in Anambra State and SDP is not. That is also why APC is strong in Lagos State but APGA is not. A Political party’s relevance is tied to its membership.

Why is party structure important? Ideally, every party is driven by a set of ideologies that serve as a guide to its programmes. And the same is what directs members of the public to it. People, therefore, join the party on the basis of these ideals. People also join political parties following an influential figure believing his judgment of the party to be accurate.

During electioneering campaigns, it is the members of the party that reach out to the public. Based on their knowledge and a better understanding of the party’s activities and their candidate, party members are in a good position to campaign for the party’s candidate(s). They create awareness and thereby entice the general public to support and vote for the candidate of their party.

On election day, it is party members that work as agents and canvassers for their party. Voters, no matter how they preferred their choice candidate cannot be admitted as party agents for their candidates. To have this capacity, it means that the party must have members in all the wards within the election premises say a state or a federal constituency or a senatorial zone or a state constituency or nationally, in a presidential election.

For a party-based democracy such as Nigeria’s, it is unthinkable to effect any fundamental political change of national consequences without a formidable political structure. Hence, to achieve any ambitious political roadmap, an adopted or registered political party for that purpose, must build membership.

To be part of a serious plan to disrupt existing political makeup, one must be more than a voter. That is why before the 2015 general election, CPC, ACN, aggrieved PDP members and others, formed APC and aggressively pursued membership for the new party. It is that membership drive that delivered the Presidency to APC. No political party can win any serious election without strong membership that can rival or contain the membership of its closest opposition. That is what party structure is all about.

Additionally, having deep pockets is essential to the processes. For instance, a serious political party must have national, state, local government, and ward offices across the country. These offices are bought with money or rented with money. Party members are mobilized during rallies for transportation and other logistics. These are basics. So money is important to the political structure. But the more the people hold a popular stake in a political structure, the more money is deemphasized. Either way, it is still the people that determine if they are a commodity party structure to be bought or one that is a partner in the progress of their country.

Writer and trained political scientist, Ebuka Onyekwelu is a writer and columnist with the WAP
He was a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, who once was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria