Nigeria

National Conscience Party activists fight election hurdles

www.socialistworld.net, 04/02/2003
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI

Members of the National Conscience Party (NCP), including members of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), organised an all-Lagos demo on Wednesday 22 January against the sudden imposition of high "processing" fees for all election candidates. This is yet another of the hurdles put in front of the NCP. NCP supporters followed this up on Saturday 25 January when NCP and DCM comrades organised a public rally in the Ajegunle area of Lagos to mark the national launch of the NCP campaign for the Presidency.

By a CWI correspondent in Nigeria

The registration of the National Conscience Party (NCP) and twenty-one other political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) late last year, represents a major victory for the Nigerian working people in their struggle for democratic rights and decent living conditions.

The election campaign has already begun in earnest. The NCP has been holding special congresses in the last few weeks to elect the Party’s candidates for the general elections, which will take place between March and April 2003.

Below is a short report from comrades of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) (sent on 28 January), the Nigerian section of the CWI, who work in the NCP. CWI Online.

National Conscience Party activists fight election hurdles

On top of this, battles are taking place in some local branches of the NCP as "professional politicians" move in. But not all the NCP membership growth is due to this, not by any means. Thousands are joining the NCP because they want real change. On Friday 24 January three people travelled across Lagos to join the NCP after they heard Lanre, a well-known DSM comrade, on a morning TV talk show.

Also, last Saturday, an indoor rally took place in Osogbo, Osun state, to launch the local NCP campaign. Around 700/800 people attended. The reception the NCP cavalcade received when it went around the town was tremendous, especially from the poor.

The NCP candidate for State Governor is a public sector workers’ leader who has been imprisoned five times in the course of struggles against both military and civilian regimes. Significantly, the national leader of his union also spoke at the rally saying how pleased the union leadership was that the candidate had decided to join the NCP and not any of the other parties.

Added to all this NCP activity the DSM comrades managed to produce a full new paper out in time for last Saturday’s mass rally.

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