Politics, like sports, produces winners and losers. Every competition cannot end with everyone carrying home a trophy, and every election cannot produce multiple winners for a single office. At the conclusion of every democratic contest, there will be celebrations in some camps and disappointment in others. What ultimately distinguishes a mature democracy is not the absence of defeat, controversy or disagreement, but the capacity of participants to display sportsmanship, accept outcomes with dignity, pursue legitimate grievances through lawful channels and place the collective interest of democracy above personal ambitions.
The recently concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have once again demonstrated both the beauty and complexity of democratic politics. Across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards, millions of party members participated in one of the most expensive and extensive internal democratic exercises ever undertaken by a political party on the African continent. The party conducted primaries for 993 State House of Assembly constituencies, 360 House of Representatives constituencies, 109 Senate seats, governorship positions in states due for elections and the presidential ticket of the party. In practical terms, more than 1,462 legislative positions alone were subjected to democratic contests, in addition to governorship and presidential elections.
The magnitude of the exercise was extraordinary. Thousands of aspirants campaigned simultaneously across the federation. Millions of party members participated in selecting candidates. Thousands of election officials, observers, journalists, consultants, agents, volunteers and security personnel were mobilised. Ward structures came alive from the creeks of the Niger Delta to the savannah of the North, from the commercial centres of Lagos and Kano to remote communities scattered across the federation. Results were collated, disputes addressed and appeal mechanisms activated.
Yet, despite the sheer scale of the exercise, Nigeria remained peaceful. Markets remained open. Businesses continued trading. Schools remained in session. Commercial flights took off and landed as scheduled. Public institutions functioned normally. Citizens carried on with their daily activities. The nation did not descend into widespread unrest despite the enormous political activity generated by the primaries.
That achievement deserves recognition and commendation. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the APC primaries was the adoption of the direct primary system, a process many observers have compared to the participatory spirit of the famous Option A4 model introduced during the political transition programme of former military President Ibrahim Babangida. Through this mechanism, political power moved beyond governors, ministers, senators and political elites and was placed directly in the hands of ordinary party members at the grassroots.
For perhaps the first time on such a nationwide scale, APC members in villages, towns, cities and communities across Nigeria were given the opportunity to directly determine who would represent the party in future elections.
The message was unmistakable.
The party belongs to its members.
Not to governors.
Not to ministers.
Not to senators.
Not to political godfathers.
Not even to the President.
But to the ordinary men and women who constitute the foundation of the party.
That is the essence of democratic participation.
Direct primaries are expensive. There is no denying that reality. Conducting elections across 8,809 wards simultaneously requires enormous financial resources, manpower, logistics and administrative coordination. Results recording materials must be distributed. Officials deployed. Security arrangements made. Results collected and verified.
Yet democracy is rarely cheap.
Participation has a cost.
Inclusion has a cost.
Legitimacy has a cost.
The reward, however, is that power becomes decentralised and decision-making is transferred from a handful of influential actors to ordinary party members.
The direct primary system compels aspirants to return to the grassroots. It forces politicians to reconnect with ordinary members. It rewards political relationships built over years rather than influence exercised from air-conditioned offices.
Indeed, one of the major lessons from the APC primaries is that money alone cannot guarantee victory in a direct primary election.
Financial resources may facilitate campaigns. They may improve logistics. They may enhance visibility. But they cannot easily substitute for popularity, grassroots structures, credibility and sustained engagement with party members.
Several prominent political figures discovered this reality too late. Some highly placed office holders failed to secure nominations despite their visibility and influence. Some former ministers who left executive positions in pursuit of elective offices discovered that occupying public office does not automatically translate into grassroots popularity. Some lawmakers who had become accustomed to political comfort zones found themselves confronted by party members eager to exercise independent judgment.
In several constituencies and districts, party members selected candidates they considered more suitable, available and accessible to represent their interests.
That is democracy at work.
The result may be painful for some aspirants, but democracy was never designed to guarantee victory and painless.
It was designed to guarantee opportunity.
It was designed to guarantee participation.
