Trending 
The National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Chinedu Obi, has lamented the loss of ideological direction among political parties in Nigeria, saying the country’s progress depends largely on recruiting the right leaders for the right positions.
Obi made the remarks on Wednesday at News Central TV’s National Chairmen’s Dialogue in Abuja, where he called for stronger democratic institutions, adherence to the rule of law and a leadership recruitment process based on competence and clear political ideas.
According to him, political parties have increasingly moved away from the ideologies that should guide their activities.
“Political parties seem to have lost the idea of ideology, which is what drives it.”
Obi said the National Rescue Movement, which he described as a social justice party, believes that the rule of law is essential to achieving peace and development.
“Our party, as a social justice party, believe that any association, any organisation, any country that is not governed under a regime of rule of law would not be peaceful.”
He argued that Nigeria’s vast human and natural resources cannot translate into meaningful development without effective leadership and a productive society.
Obi said the country’s leadership recruitment process remains a major challenge, stressing that political offices should be occupied by people with the capacity and competence to perform.
“We have a problem of leadership recruitment process where people emerge as leaders from nowhere, and nobody can give what it does not have. You can’t plant cassava and expect to reap cocoa yam.”
He said Nigeria must reverse the practice of placing unsuitable individuals in positions of authority.
“Over the years, what we have done as a country is that we continue to plant cassava and expect to reap cocoa yam until we do a reverse, where we’re going to put round pegs in round hole, recruit the right people for right offices.”
According to Obi, weak leadership has also affected the independence of Nigeria’s institutions, which he identified as one of the country’s major democratic challenges.
“In a democracy, what makes it robust is that you have checks and balances, you have rule of law, you have institutions playing their roles.”
He, however, criticised what he described as a system in which political power is concentrated in the hands of one individual.
“Today you run a system where one man sits down and dictates what happens everywhere.”
Obi linked what he described as poor governance to several challenges confronting the country, including insecurity, economic hardship and inadequate access to education.
“Today, we’re the poverty capital of the world. Our type of poverty is multidimensional. That’s the outcome of a situation where we do not recruit the right persons for the right offices.”
He further criticised the absence of clear ideological principles in the country’s political system, saying decisions are often driven by individual preferences rather than established ideas.
“We don’t run our systems based on ideas. It’s just about rule of mind. Whatever you wake up in the morning and think that’s what you need to do, you do it.”
The NRM chairman also raised concerns about restrictions placed on opposition parties and political actors, arguing that such actions undermine democratic competition.
“This is democracy. A presidential candidate was going around in his country and was stopped to go to talk to the people he wants to represent.”
He alleged that opposition parties often face difficulties when attempting to display campaign materials or promote their political ideas.
“Some of them will come with laws that will make it difficult for opposition to even put up billboards or campaign materials. So, this has been the situation.”
Obi said Nigeria’s democratic challenges could be traced to the period after the restoration of civilian rule in 1999, arguing that the democratic process was subsequently taken over by individuals who did not fully understand its principles.
“We got a country where we hardly got back our democracy in 1999. And unfortunately, the Democrats who started that process were hijacked.”
He said the country must return to a system driven by democratic principles, institutional independence, the rule of law and competent leadership if it is to achieve meaningful progress.
“Political parties seem to have lost the idea of ideologies…which is what drives it…”
National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement, Chinedu Obi, says Nigeria’s progress depends on choosing the right leaders for the right positions.#NigeriaDecides2027 #NCTownHallSeries… pic.twitter.com/B6F8SQVRFq
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) September 10, 2026
