Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has stressed that for the nation to achieve the desired level of governance with credible leadership for transformation in all facets of the economy, there is a need to give the country’s politics a soul by orchestrating ideologically driven political parties.
Governor Soludo stated that for the emergence of a better country, a new Nigerian must be “born again” through ethical-value rebirth, as the time for both was yesterday, but today is still on time, and tomorrow may be too late.
This was the submission of the governor at the Democracy Day presentation on the topic “Rebuilding The Nation,” at The Platform in Lagos, on Thursday, 12th June 2025, an event marking the 26th year of uninterrupted democratic rule in the country.
The erudite former Central Bank Governor, acclaimed for his successful banking sector consolidation and reforms, argued that political parties are grouped as either left or right-centred, depending on their location on the spectrum of neoliberal-progressivism to supra-conservatism.
He said that a political party worth its salt must have a defined ideology, from which one can even predict its possible stance on different economic and social issues. “Ideology is the soul of a political party, and in a multi-party democracy, it is the only way to ensure policy continuity and sustainable progress,” Governor Soludo stated.
According to him, party and government policies and programmes are largely derived from the ideology of the party. “A political party that is ideologically driven ensures policy clarity, predictability, and continuity. Without ideology, parties govern by whims and programme reversals are common even when the same party retains power,” he affirmed.
“Organizing Nigerians around ideological divides is the sustainable way to mobilize citizens across ethnic and religious divides. It is the surest way for a new politics to evolve from the current “turn by turn,” to transformational politics of development that guarantees an answer to the prayer contained in the last stanza of our National Anthem,’ the governor explained.
END
