Urgent Call for Political Party Reforms in Nigeria

At the 2026 Annual Lecture, Awards, and Launching of Digital Journalism Tools organized by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ado-Ekiti, former Senator Ayo Arise, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), urged for urgent reforms in Nigeria's political parties. He stated that democracy cannot thrive if parties do not practice democracy internally.

Arise discussed the importance of internal party democracy, which should allow genuine member participation in selecting officials and candidates. He identified challenges such as godfatherism, money politics, and lack of transparency as detrimental to internal democracy.

He also highlighted that good governance is essential for democracy to be meaningful, citing access to education, healthcare, and infrastructure as key indicators. Furthermore, Arise called on the media to remain independent and professional, warning against misinformation on social media.

He stressed that internal party democracy, good governance, and a strong media are interconnected pillars of a healthy democracy.