Tuesday 26 March 2019

DEREGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES WHICH DID NOT WIN ANY ELECTIVE POST IS UNDEMOCRATIC



SPN WILL RESIST  DEREGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES

 PRESS STATEMENT
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) is categorically opposed to the agenda of deregistration of political parties that did not win elective seats. This policy is undemocratic and negates the principle of multi-party ‘democracy’. We call on parties, the labour movement and civil society to condemn this threat and be prepared to organize campaigns to resist it. The game plan for the ruling elite is to limit the political space to the major capitalist political parties as a means of stiffing political opposition. Deregistration of parties based on winning of elective post negates the principle of equity and fairness; it equally violates the principle of Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution with specific reference to Section 38 (freedom of thought and conscience), Section 39 (freedom of expression) and Section 40 (freedom of association).   

The proponents of deregistration of political parties are making a reactionary case and unfortunately, Femi Falana has lent his voice in support of deregistration of political party despite his roles in the struggle for political alternative in the past. The Nigerian anti-poor capitalist ruling elite have fought tooth and nail to limit the political space to rightwing parties. In 1999, the parties were PDP, APP and AD. The legal and political struggle to open up the political space was spearheaded by Gani Fawehinmi and Balarabe Musa and since then the ruling elite have consistently tinkered with various laws to make registration and existence of political parties extremely difficult. The SPN also fought INEC undemocratic policies legally and politically for over three years before it was registered. 

Coming out of the 2019 general election, the major problem encountered, just like in previous elections, was not the participation of multiple political parties. The election was marred by violence, the use of thugs and security operatives to thwart election process, multiple voting, massive vote buying, manipulations, killing, intimidation of voters and opposition political parties and bribery of electoral officers and security operatives. All these were orchestrated by the dominant capitalist political parties (PDP, APC, etc). These various crimes committed by the major capitalist political parties undermined the credibility of the election.. Indeed, it is partly the massive rigging, manipulation and violence perpetrated by pro-establishment parties such as APC and PDP in connivance with the INEC that have made it difficult for the so-called small parties to win any elective post. Yet, the capitalist ruling elite want to use the precarious conditions they foist on the so-called parties as the basis for deregistration. 

It is grossly illogical for political parties to be deregistered because they failed to win a seat thereby reducing the roles of political parties to winning election alone. We strongly feel that the primary role of political parties in society is social and political mobilization of the people around certain ideals, programs and policies as a means of contributing to the development of such society.  

There are 13 parties represented in the South African Parliament and 56 parties unrepresented and none of the parties who were unable to win a seat has been deregistered. The US model that the Nigerian ruling elite borrowed has two dominant political parties (Democrat and Republican) and about 38 other minor parties, but has no registration of parties.  For example, Prohibition Party in the US was founded in 1869 and polled 5,617 in the 2016 presidential election and it is allowed to keep standing. 

About 73 million collected their PVC but only 27 million actually voted which is about 36% participation and the declared winner was elected by just 21% of eligible voters while the governorship elections had even lower participation. We must state that this very low participation would have been much lower if massive vote buying never took place. The proponents of party deregistration should worry more about low voters’ participation which is an indictment on the ruling elite as a result of the failure to meet the wishes and aspirations of the people. Should the ruling elite and the so-called big parties be denied of looted public funds and kickbacks from bourgeois contractors who benefited from fraudulent contracts, it would mark the end of such parties. A political party has a right to decide not to contest elections for as long as possible and still play its role as opposition party. 

SPN feels strongly that, if the present arrangement continues, the basis for registration and deregistration of a political party should be the failure to comply with chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution that states the fundamental objectives and directive principles of State Policy. Section 16 (1 and 2) states clearly that the economy should be run to secure maximum welfare of the people, for the major sectors of the economy to be managed by the State and the State and governance should not permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchanges in the hands of a few individuals or of a group. Since the advent of civil rule, the ruling elite through the dominant capitalist political parties have run this country in violation of Chapter 2 of the Constitution through sustained neo-liberal, anti-poor capitalist policies (privatization, deregulation, commercialization etc) that created more misery, poverty, unemployment and has concentrated much of our collective wealth in the hands of a privileged few. 

However, SPN recognizes that some political parties are being established for opportunist purposes and for enrichment of key party leaders. But the SPN does not fall in this category and we have never collaborated with any of the pro-rich capitalist major parties for pecuniary or other reasons. We feel strongly that the fate of a political party arising from its conducts and activities should be left to the Nigerian people/electorate to decide. 

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) will resist the plan to undemocratically deregister political parties. SPN is committed to socialist programme which entails socio-economic and political agenda based on public sector-led economy and geared towards meeting the needs of all and not the profit, privileges and wasteful lifestyle of a few. It is the fear that this programme can get support which is a factor in the drive to deregister parties. But even if we are deregistered unlawfully and undemocratically for a time, the SPN will not go away, we will continue to fight in the interests of working people and for the building of a mass movement that can wrestle control of this country out of the hands of the thieving elite.
                                                                                                                     
SIGNED

Abiodun Bamigboye                                                            Chinedu Bosah
Acting National Chairperson                                                    National Secretary



Monday 25 March 2019

PLANNED INCREASE IN VALUE ADDED TAX (VAT) IS AN ATTACK ON WORKING PEOPLE AND THE POOR


 
* We call on labour movement to reject the planned increase in VAT, and demand full implementation of N30,000 minimum wage across the board without any odious condition

 PRESS STATEMENT

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) strongly condemns the reported planned increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Buhari/APC federal government. According to news reports credited to government officials, the government wants to increase VAT from current 5 percent to around 7.5 percent. This increment, if allowed to scale through, will further worsen already high cost of living and make life more unbearable for vast majority of the working people and the masses. For a government that has superintended over growing unemployment, deepening poverty and costlier social services, again increasing VAT, a major determinant of inflation, shows how insensitive the Buhari/APC government is.

The argument of the government that it needs to increase VAT in order to fund new minimum wage is both illogical and blackmailing. Illogical because one of the reasons necessitating a new minimum wage is the rising inflation, which has made nonsense of the existing N18,000 minimum wage. Increasing VAT will worsen the inflation rate, therefore it is tantamount to government taking with the left hand what was given with right hand. That the government did not even wait till the full enactment of the new minimum wage to law and its implementation before placing a new burden on the working people shows that it is anti-poor. Obviously, the government is not interested in alleviating the poor living conditions of working people, but rather defends a system, capitalism, that repeatedly needs to worsen it.

Linking the minimum wage implementation with VAT increase is blackmailing as it tends to suggest that workers' demand for a long-overdue, but modest, increase in their wages is the cause of inflation. Meanwhile, demand for a new minimum wage is only a defensive demand, as costs of living have skyrocketed in the last five years. Interestingly, it is government’s capitalist policies of increase in fuel pump price, hike in electricity tariffs, devaluation of naira and underfunding cum commercialization of social services, which have huge contributed to the current terrible economic situations faced by working people.

SPN also reject the argument that only through increment in VAT that new minimum wage can be paid. Already, workers and ordinary people are the most taxed section of the society, while the rich paid the least tax. According to government sources, only a handful of millionaires and billionaires pay tax, yet they are biggest beneficiaries of government policies and dole out. We demand that government tax the rich, who pay the least tax but corner larger parts of nation's wealth. Moreover, we contend that there are enough resources to fund new minimum wage, better social services and improved infrastructures, but only if nation's resources are redirected towards public good. For instance, reducing emoluments of political office holders by 70 percent and equipping ministry of works with adequate manpower and equipment will release hundreds of billions of naira going to the private pockets of politicians and big time contractors. Also, renationalisation of nation's mineral and natural resources already privatised, under public control, will provide opportunity to begin to mobilise resources to fund new minimum wage, provide millions of decent jobs, expand social services and infrastructures.

Conclusively, the SPN calls on the labour movement to mobilise and reject the planned increase in VAT, and insist that the N30,000 minimum wage be implemented across the board without any odious conditions attached. While the new N30,000 minimum is not a real living wage, it is less than half of the N65,000 Labour was demanding last year, but its implementation would be a step forward. However with the way the federal government is planning to use the whip of increase in VAT to undermine new minimum wage, state governments and private sector employers will also use retrenchment as condition for implementation of the new minimum wage, unless the labour movement begin the process of mobilising working people and youth to oppose these neo-liberal policies.

For us in the SPN, the latest government onslaught against the working people and the poor only confirm our position that the APC, just like its PDP counterpart, is an anti-working people's party premised on capitalist ideology of making the poor poorer and the rich few richer. The worsening living conditions in the last four years, following 16 years of PDP implementation of anti-poor policies, is a confirmation of our position. Only mass struggle of working people, youth and the masses, can stop further attacks being planned by the APC and PDP in the next four years. Only socialist programmes and policies can mobilize resources and manpower to ending mass suffering in the midst of superabundance.


Abiodun Bamigboye                                                              Chinedu Bosah
Acting National Chairperson                                                        National Secretary

Sunday 17 March 2019

SPN APPRECIATES ALL SUPPORTS FOR ITS 2019 ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS


CALLS ON WORKERS, YOUTH AND THE MASSES TO JOIN THE PARTY
REITERATES ITS CALL FOR THE FORMATION OF A MASS WORKING PEOPLE'S POLITICAL PARTY

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) appreciates the support, donations and contributions by different groups and individuals to the election campaigns we ran in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Cross River, Osun States and Federal Capital Territory Abuja (FCT). We want to specially thank trade unions, trade union activists, socialist organisations, socialist activists, pro-labour organisations, community organisations and activists, friends and collaborators for their support. 

SPN ran successful campaigns in 11 House of Assembly seats in 5 states, 1 Governorship (Oyo), two local government chairmen and 6 councillorships in FCT Abuja. We did not win any of the seats contested but we won about 200 members into the party and many other supporters and sympathisers, which was one of the primary aims for our intervention in the 2019 elections. SPN also created awareness of its existence and took radical socialist policies to the masses. 

SPN will continue to stand with the working masses in their day to day struggles in opposition to all capitalist attacks from the bourgeois political parties in power at all levels. The attacks in the aftermath of the elections will manifest in the form of neglect of basic infrastructure, rise in cost of living, loss of jobs, unpaid salary regime etc., and SPN will continue to join in the mobilization for resistance and fight for improvement. Most fundamentally, the SPN will continue to offer the working masses the alternative to the vicious, iniquitous capitalist system. 

We call on workers, youths and the masses as well as trade union, socialist and community activists to join the SPN in order to build it as a mass party that is formidable to challenge the anti-poor capitalist parties for political power at all levels. 

At the same, the SPN calls on the trade union movement to end its collaboration with the bourgeois state, start to seriously struggle for a higher minimum wage and other demands while joining in the process of building a mass working people’s alternative. The lack of mass working class alternative paves the way for the dominance of the two major capitalist political parties with their anti-poor policies. This mass working class political party will be expected not only spearhead the resistance against all capitalist policies but also put forward pro-working masses alternative programme as it struggles for political power. We also call for the convocation of conference of trade unions, socialist and left parties, socialist and left organisations and pro-labour organisations to discuss and plan the formation of such mass working people’s party.

Abiodun Bamigboye                                                                     Chinedu Bosah
Acting National Chairperson                                                                National Secretary