Director-General Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr
Salihu Lukman, on Saturday said the amendment of the country’s Electoral Act
mandating political parties to adopt the direct form of primaries in selecting
candidates for elections, has ambiguities that must be made clear.
He said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, noting
that the amended Electoral Act does not address some vague sections, NAN
reports.
Recall that the amendments of the Electoral Act had gone
through public hearing and was finally passed by both chambers of the National
Assembly and is currently awaiting assent by the president.
The bill, when signed into law, is expected to address
issues of corruption involved in the indirect primary methods of selecting
party candidates for elective offices.
Section 87(1) of the proposed amendment bill provides that
‘A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Bill
shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which
shall be monitored by INEC.
Lukman, however, pointed out some flaws in the amended Bill,
saying it does not address political parties’ management of their membership
register which was essential for a credible direct primary to be conducted.
He noted if the objective of mandating political parties to
adopt the direct method was to ensure a credible process of nominating party
candidates among other things, admissibility of members of a political party
during direct elections should be well outlined.
He added that the amendment being proposed took many issues
for granted.
“For instance, the only thing that exists as means of
identification of party members is an ordinary piece of paper and records of
members exist only in hard copies available perhaps to only Ward officials and
National Secretariat of the party. It leaves much room for manipulation and
extraneous practices.
“Beyond the sentiments in favour of direct primary,
therefore, there is the need to properly outline a clear administrative
framework under the law.
‘This will guide the process and guarantee that all the bad
practices associated with the indirect method of electing party candidates are
eliminated,” he said.
Lukman, while alleging that the campaign for the direct
primary was an agenda of the All Progressives Congress (APC), added that it
could be an attempt by some party members to achieve personal goals.
The PGF DG further added that it could also be because
Nigerians and party members have lost faith in their parties.
“In several respects, the issue of compelling parties to use
the direct method for internal party elections as part of the Electoral Act is
also popular perhaps because increasingly many political party members and
leaders have lost confidence that parties can on their own adopt internal rules
that can truly allow for direct primary.
“Otherwise, ordinarily the choice of the direct primary
should be decided internally within parties. To a large extent, it is also a
matter that should define the ideological orientation of parties,” he said.
Lukman appealed to the National Assembly to rework Section
87 of the Bill on direct primary and take it through all the legislative
processes, including a public hearing, to enable Nigerians contribute to making
the law before presenting it to the President
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