The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has called for politics to be treated as a temporary public service rather than a full-time career, arguing that professionals outside government are more likely to promote accountable governance.
APGA National Chairman, Sly Ezeokenwa, made the remarks during a media interaction on Thursday in Lagos, outlining the party’s philosophy and leadership approach.
Ezeokenwa said the party encourages officials to maintain professional careers outside politics to reduce corruption and the monetisation of political processes.
“In APGA, we try to develop a model of politics that recognises that politics is not a business. People should build careers, and if you are a party officer, you should maintain meaningful professional engagement. If you are not productively engaged, that is what leads to vices such as trading nomination platforms for money,” he said.
Even as national chairman, Ezeokenwa revealed that he continues to practice law, stating, “Even as national chairman, I still go to court because election petitions are part of my professional practice.”
Addressing criticisms of the Electoral Act, Ezeokenwa emphasised that legislation is enacted collectively by lawmakers and should not be attributed to a single political party. He noted that democratic lawmaking requires accepting the decisions of the majority.
He also clarified controversies surrounding the electronic transmission of results during the 2023 presidential election. Ezeokenwa said many critics lacked a proper understanding of the process, which was introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enhance transparency.
“The presiding officer scans the result sheet and uploads it to the INEC Result Viewing Portal. The essence is simply for Nigerians anywhere to log onto the portal and view results in real time,” he explained.
He stressed that election outcomes are ultimately determined by certified polling unit results, not the electronic transmission alone. “Till date, nobody has produced an alternative result sheet; the only thing I hear is that INEC breached its guideline. If they breached their guideline, have you brought an alternative result to show the declared results are different?” he questioned.
Ezeokenwa also distinguished between result transmission and collation, explaining that results are physically delivered by presiding officers to collation officers, while transmission merely facilitates public viewing.
He concluded by urging greater public education on Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2027 presidential elections.
