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| IPAC Nat. chairman Dr Tanko Yunusa and Mrs Mourtunda Deme of UNDP @ the IPAC summit,Kaduna |
IPAC-Inter Party Advisory council-[Union of all political party
chairmen of Nigeria] Holds first National
stakeholders summit in Kaduna,: of the National Exco ,with National chairmen of
all political parties in Nigeria, 36 states chairmen of IPAC ,INEC and
UNDP,UKAIDS, Canada AID etc with a focus-
“On Promoting peaceful Elections through Enforcement of the Political parties code
of Conduct”: attended by the National chairman of IPAC Dr Tanko Yunusa, Mrs. Mourtada
Deme- Project Director UNDP/DGD, Lai Olorunde -National commissioner EPMC,
INEC, National secretary IPAC Chief Peter Ameh, Mr Bala Shittu- Director INEC, Aminu
Idriss of INEC, Festus Okoye, Dr Sadiq Abubakar Gombe- DG-IPAC,- among the
states chairmen of IPAC that attended were: Prince Frank Ukonga – IPAC Chairman
Edo state, A.A. Okoh- IPAC Chairman Benue state, Alhaji Abha Sidi- IPAC Chairman-
Sokoto State, Comrade Rasaq Umar IPAC Chairman Taraba state, Prince Deji- IPAC
Chairman Kwara state, Prince Jegede – IPAC Chairman Ekiti state, Austin Iboh-
IPAC secretary Cross River state, chief Michal Alamipe, Chief Okadike Chinedu-
IPAC chairman Imo state,- IPAC Chairman Oyo state, Hon. Ibrahim Itodo- IPAC Chairman
Kogi state, Umar Mohammed Kakuri- IPAC Chairman Yobe state, , ,Chief Paul
Isamade –IPAC Chairman Delta state, and all IPAC Chairman and secretaries of
the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT. Among the National chairmen of political parties
that attended includes-Hon Peter Ameh National chairman of PPA, Hon Tanko
Yunusa- National chairman of NCP, Dr Abubakar-National chairman Mega Party, Chief
Tunde Anifowoshekelani- National chairman AA, Alhaji Hon Ganiyu Galadima-ACPN- National
Chairman and many others,…In fact it was the summit of the who is who in the
Nigerian Political institution and gladiators…Sponsored by UNDP & co…
In his keynote address the National chairman of IPAC Dr Tanko
Yunusa, stated that IPAC was originally sponsored by IRI- International
Republican Institute of the United states but later other organizations started
to participate in the sponsorship of IPAC…Which is an intra party, inter party
advisory council addressed to midwife and entrench genuine democratic
dispensation in Nigeria and sub Saharan Africa armed with the agenda of
promoting free , fair and credible polls in Nigeria, training of leaders and
politicians on how to conduct credible primaries and congresses to Deepening democracy
through the ethics of maintaining genuine internal democratic culture, settling
of disputes among political parties, strengthening of Party-INEC Relations,
through functional collaborations, promoting issue based debates in elections campaigns,
abhorrence of violence, vandalism etc during polls, creating a praxis of discuss
among political parties during polls, calling on the federal government to fund
political parties and an inclusive govt of all political parties of
participatory democracy and an annual
award gala for leaders that has
contributed outstandingly to nation building…addressed to deliver the dividends
of democracy to the Nigerian polity and the African continent in generality…
The UNDP/DGD Project Director Dr. Mourtada Deme in her
welcome addressed to all the participants in the summit offered the following
observations on the necessity and sufficiency reason de entre of IPAC as a
social political praxis of a melting pot of the stakeholders in the Nigerian
political tuffs as peer review synergy
among political parties addressed to entrench sustainable democratic
dispensation in Nigeria and the Sub Saharan Africa and opined that IPAC had
been established in other emerging democracies of some African countries with successful
track record which prime moved the coming into being in the Nigerian case study
as a panacea to conflicts and problems
encountered by political parties in nascent democracies…
Mr. Bala Shittu , the INEC Director spoke on the topic of
IPAC/INEC Relations emphasizing that the job of establishing a vibrant
democracy cannot be achieved alone by INEC
and commended the establishment of IPAC as a partner to INEC in the context
of paddling emerging democracies to success not only in Nigeria but the world
in generality…he said INEC as a member of IPAC would want to cooperate with
IPAC to eradicate rigging during polls, to ensure transparency, mobilize the
masses during elections, particularly during the PVC and the CVR programs, and
to creating a general functional language of understanding and cooperation between
INEC and IPAC on the one hand and between INEC-IPAC and the electorate on the
other…in the context of maintaining of inter party discipline he sought the
cooperation of IPAC during investigations of improprieties of misconduct by
political parties with far reaching mandate of auditing political party
accounts , investigating the sources of funding of political parties and the adaptation
of the golden rule of eternal vigilance and pro activeness as the only panacea
to conflict resolutions among political parties
Hon. Peter Ameh who is the National secretary of IPAC and the
National chairman of PPA Party spoke on the topic of Ice Breaker- The Journey
So far- where he expertly traced the history of IPAC from it conceptualization stage
supported by IRI until the draft constitution was endorsed by all political parties
in Nigeria in Minna and the need for some amendments…in this context he
espoused o novel stratagems of making IPAC relevant and functional to
contributing effectively to the journey of entrenchment of genuine democratic
dispensation n Nigeria and all emerging democracies of the world recommending training
and retraining of politicians and stakeholders in high profile strategic learning
institutions like the Institute of strategic studies in KURU AND said that with the help of the UNDP a course
has been created in NIPPS to train politicians and that the first set has graduated
from the school and as funds and time
would permit many other leaders would be trained…furthermore he emphasized the
need of party discipline, intra party democracy and conducive inter party
relations based on mutual cooperation and forging out functional atmosphere of understanding
and relations based on the inter party advisory code of conduct which he observed
the ideals if well articulated would certainly impact positively in the entrenchment
of genuine and sustainable democratic dispensation in Nigeria and all other
seething emerging democracies of the African continent and the world in
generality….
In his own contribution Prince Frank Ukonga- The IPAC chairman of Edo
state of the Nigerian federation, was seeded as one of the emerging IPAC Leader
of the south South Region of the Nigerian Federation that worked with other
seeded regional leaders of IPAC from the six geo political zones of the
Nigerian federation making up of 12 regional leaders who in their contributions
drafted a Memo for the ratification of the IPAC National Exco based on the
overall historgraphy of IPAC both in its necessity and sufficiency reason de
entre and other matters arising which may inter alias influence the National Exco
to somehow tinkering with the IPAC Constitution to be more functional and
proactive to the yearnings of the Nigerian electorate and guarantee the delivery
of the dividends of democracy to the Nigerian Polity and the world in
generality…..and in this context another milestone and history has been made in
Nigeria with a credible record set by the Nigerian IPAC which presently and in
future would impact positively to the development and entrenchment of sustainable
democratic culture and ethics of international standard practice in Nigeria,/
the African continent and through international peer review mechanism would
impact positively as novel ingenious contributions to the development of
democracy on a global scale…Basiru Ayandiran-Desk Editor – National Peoples
News
