Veteran politician Umar Gurama has warned that restricting opposition parties’ access to public venues and campaign materials can amount to electoral manipulation, arguing that efforts to influence an election may begin long before polling day.
“Election rigging does not happen only on election day,” in an interview with Daily Trust Gurama said, adding that those in power could use government authority to prevent opposition parties from organising, campaigning and challenging the government.
He cited an incident in Gombe State, which he said occurred in either 2013 or 2015, when former President Muhammadu Buhari was seeking the presidency. Gurama said a governor had allegedly ordered the Gombe Stadium to be blocked to prevent Buhari from using it for a campaign rally.
Such actions, he said, deprived opposition parties of the opportunity to present their views to voters. He also described the removal of campaign materials and other party assets, as well as blackmail, as ways of frustrating political opponents.
Gurama, a retired civil servant and politician from Gombe State, began participating in partisan politics in the late 1970s. He was active during the Second Republic, initially joining the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), where he served as an assistant organising secretary in the old Bauchi State. He later returned to the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), which he has been associated with since his university days.
In an interview with [Newspaper name], Gurama said Nigeria’s political parties were not functioning effectively, despite the country’s adoption of a democratic system.
“Without functional political parties, there can be no democracy,” he said, arguing that parties were central to democratic life but had become dormant. He said many members were unfamiliar with their parties’ constitutions, manifestos and core principles.
Gurama contrasted the current political environment with the Second Republic, saying opposition parties then had greater freedom to operate. Although political rivalry and name-calling were common during campaigns, he said, parties were able to conduct their activities without interference.
He recalled that, as a young party official in Bauchi, he spent his time at the party secretariat and had little contact with government offices. Parties such as the GNPP, PRP, UPN, MPP and MPN, he said, each had distinct identities that their members understood.
Gurama said internal disputes were also being exploited to weaken opposition parties. He alleged that aggrieved members, including those who lost at party congresses, were sometimes encouraged or paid to take disputes to court.
In the past, he said, party members would first try to resolve disagreements within the party. Where that failed, parties could take disciplinary action in line with their constitutions. He argued that the ruling party could exploit internal divisions and litigation to undermine its opponents.
A weakened opposition, Gurama warned, could lead to dictatorship by reducing the chances of genuinely competitive elections. Opposition parties, he said, had a duty to scrutinise government policies and challenge actions they believed did not comply with the Constitution.
He urged opposition parties to remain resilient, protect their structures and avoid allowing internal divisions to dismantle them. He also called for broad reforms to ensure that government, electoral institutions and the judiciary could operate independently and protect citizens’ constitutional rights.
