The house of representatives has
commenced an investigation on the alleged violation of the electoral act by
political parties in the primaries to choose candidates for the 2019 general
election.
The house on Thursday set up an
ad hoc committee to look into the matter, charging it to determine whether the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) colluded with the parties to
flout the electoral act.
Abubakar Adamu (APC-Niger), who
moved the motion, condemned the All Progressives Congress (APC) for “lack of
internal democracy” in the conduct of the elections.
He accused the parties of failing
to adhere to the provisions of their constitutions and the electoral act with
regard to the conduct of primaries.
He said: “Some parties brazenly
refused to hold primaries in contravention of Section 87 (10) of the electoral
act which makes it mandatory for parties to hold primaries, thereby leading to
crisis in some state chapters of political parties.”
“Governors in many states
interfered with the elections by either imposing their preferred stooges as
candidates on the parties and ensured that some aspirants were denied the right
to participate or were shortchanged in the elections after paying huge amounts
to obtain nomination forms.”
He argued that if legislative
measures were not adopted to address the trend, ”the national assembly may, in
the nearest future, be the assemblage of governors’ stooges to the detriment of
our democracy and the interest of the electorate”.
He decried the act of selling
nomination forms to aspirants at exorbitant rates even when party leaders had
predetermined the winners of primaries.
The lawmaker described the act as
”unjust which can be equated as corruption”.
According to Adamu, some parties
sell forms at exorbitant rates and don’t explain or justify their expenses.
”Even where clear winners emerged
in the primaries, the results were altered and other persons declared winners,
thereby shortchanging the electorate and violating Section 87 (3&4) of the
Electoral Act.
”The crisis in the parties has
generated many litigation, which may spill over into the tenure of the next
governments as some of them may not be terminated before the end of the tenure
of this government.
”And in some cases, there were
violent attacks, including burning of property, maiming and killing of people,”
he remarked.
When Yakubu Dogara, the speaker,
put the motion on a voice vote, it was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.
Thereafter, the speaker
constituted the ad hoc committee to ascertain the income and expenses of the
major political parties in the last four years in line with Section 226 of the
constitution.
The probe, according to the
lawmakers, will enable the national assembly correct any defects in the act and
strengthen the extant law, including the constitution in order to improve the
nation’s electoral process and deepen democracy.
The committee has four weeks to
conclude its assignment and report its findings to the house for further
legislative action.
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