Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives,
says the national assembly may remove the direct primary clause from the
electoral act amendment bill.
The national assembly transmitted the bill to President
Muhammadu Buhari on November 19, with recommendations on electronic
transmission of results and direct primaries for political parties.
But in a letter addressed to the upper and lower legislative
chambers, Buhari kicked against the recommendation of direct primaries for
political parties on the grounds that it “violates the spirit of democracy”.
The decision of the president generated varying reactions
from Nigerians, while some civil society organisations (CSOs) asked the
national assembly to review the legislation or override the president and pass
the bill into law.
Speaking on Thursday while inaugurating some projects in
Lagos, Gbajabiamila said the national assembly may remove the clause of direct
primaries for political parties upon resumption.
“If you follow the history of the amendment of the direct
and indirect primary, I initiated that amendment for a good reason and it is
for people to participate in elections. These are the people you see around
when you campaign every four years,” he said.
“For me, it does not make sense that these people do not
have a voice in who represents them. It is part of being used and I didn’t like
that. Most of us are reformers and one of the ways to reform the system is to
make it more accountable and to make the people have a voice in who represents
them as opposed to a few people sitting in the four corners of a wall and
writing results.
“There is a process;
when we come back from recess, as I said, the house will look at those
amendments. We will sit as the national assembly, look at the reasons and at
that point, consider removing that clause and pass the bill so that we do not
throw away the baby with the bathwater.
“But then, it is not my decision to make. It is the decision
of the national assembly; if they determine that the reasons are not good
enough, then, there is a process prescribed by the constitution.”
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