November 14, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the 2023 general election, there appears to be different voices to the same challenge: No party position satisfies the rank and file, the major and minor. Since the debate broke over the provisions in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, with specific reference to the sections on direct primaries as the mode for choosing candidates for future elections, the federal legislators seem to have fallen out with political parties, party officials, lawmakers and state governors.
While the state governors are up in arms against the National Assembly and party officials are crying blue murder, the lawmakers are resolute in their decision and threatening to override the President, should he fail to sign the bill into law.
Emerging reactions from members of political parties across the country to the ongoing debate over the adoption of direct primaries for election of candidates align with the positions of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and the National Assembly on the matter.
Commenting last week, the Speaker said, “If I want to be selfish, I would push for Indirect Primary because my delegates are intact in my constituency, but it is important for this generation to open the door of leadership to the next generation. We must allow every Nigerian to participate fully in the process of leadership. Therefore, I stand with Direct Primary…”
Investigations by THEWILL, including reports from our correspondents, show that the generality of party officials and members across many states are as divided in their opinion as some state governors on the amendment bill that was recently passed by the National Assembly, with provisions in five sessions spelling out the details on direct primaries. A cross section of respondents drawn from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Labour Party (LP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) disclosed their preferences, with many in support of direct primaries.
REACTIONS
A former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and current Chairman of the party in Cross River State, Mr Venatus Ikem, told this newspaper that he was shocked to learn that governors were opposed to the bill.
He said, “For me, I am very comfortable with the process because it will entrench democracy and encourage participation. I have listened to all the arguments between the state governors and senior legislators, but they don’t make sense to me. What we are worried about is the abuse. Well, for some of us that have been involved in politics for a long time, it is not a strange thing. That is the process we used in the 1998/99 governorship primaries at that time.
“Unfortunately, over time, political parties evolved a process that made it become indirect, which we are familiar with. We used it before and we won and that’s how Donald Duke emerged as governor. We are very comfortable with it and believe it will expand, intensify and broaden the base, making it easier for any candidate who wins the primaries to win in the general election.”
Sharing a personal experience with party processes for choosing candidates, a political leader in Ini Local Government Area of the state, Mr Michael Ene, said that democracy in the country had always been guided by the elite for control and exploitation of resources.
“This tendency is entrenched deeper into the system, which is repugnant to clear democratic ethos. There was a period in this state that those who bought forms to contest in elections could not even vote for themselves. Well placed persons maintained deceptive silence. Once you have advantage, that is your brand of democracy. Let the followers define what they want, but are they willing and available? No!”
Curiously, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Borono Bassey, kicked against what he called, “imposition of direct primaries on political parties by the Senate through the amendment.”
Bassey said the Senate’s posture ran contrary to “ideal democratic practice”, adding that parties should be given the freedom to decide which method to adopt, according to peculiarities and circumstances.
He stated further, “The direct primaries for election of party candidates is cost intensive and it will raise the budget of primary elections higher than realisable, a concern that may give room to corrupt practices and a crisis of logistics during the exercise.
“We are talking about a system where every member of a political party votes in a primary election and in this state, we have seen a party adopting direct primaries and people fighting over the authentic party register, as well as allegations of hijacking the process by certain pay masters who fund the party.”
A chieftain of the APC in Ekiti State, Dr Oluwole Oluyede, applauded the lawmakers over their recent decision to ensure a return to the direct primary as the mode of selecting who becomes governor of a state in future elections.
The Ikere-Ekiti-born politician posited that a return to direct primary, which he also described as synonymous with giving back power to the people of Ekiti, in the forthcoming governorship election slated for 2022, would lend potency to democracy.
He said political activities in Ekiti have frustrated the majority of APC members in the state, due to intolerance and the decision of a few to have their way over the rest, by all means and at all costs.
Oluyede urged the people to be calm and consistent, just as he admonished the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to see the light and don the cap of wisdom by creating a friendly environment that would produce a resourceful, people-oriented candidate that can secure victory for the APC in coming poll.
He said victory can only come the way of the party when people eschew divisive politics by bringing every member into a formidable fold that can go all out with requisite strength to retain victory on the side of the party.
According to him, lingering political maneuvering by a division of the APC loyal to the governor, smacks of an attempt to throw away the political fortune of the state on the altar of petty politics and self-aggrandisement. He noted that the tilt towards a direct primary will make participatory democracy a lone choice for APC and as such the only option for Dr Fayemi, should he desire victory for the party in the forthcoming election.
“The National Assembly is bent on treading the path of honour by approving a direct primary, which is the best thing that can happen to our democracy at this time. As a friend and stakeholder in the state, I am of the opinion that your (Fayemi) engagement in our forthcoming elections would be critical to restoring normalcy back to our beautiful land.
“There is no doubt that our state, has gone through difficult times in the past, which resulted in the destruction of the lifelong brand of our state and the entire Western region as the home of men and women with respect, integrity and political maturity,” he said.
For the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Akwa Ibom, Bassey, the bill on direct primaries was an imposition on political parties, which, he said should be allowed the freedom to decide which method to adopt, according to peculiarities and circumstances.
He pointed out that direct primaries for election of party candidates is cost intensive and would raise the budget of primary elections higher than realisable, a concern he noted was capable of causing various degrees of corrupt practices and logistics crisis during the exercise.
The pioneer secretary of the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), Elder Okon Okon, condemned the opposition by state governors, arguing that in law making, the National Assembly had the right to decide what would favour the majority of the people and not governors.
“From my experience, I can tell that direct primaries are less capital intensive because the party will not need to buy anybody, as against the case in delegates elections,” he said.
In Ogun, the Chairman of the Labour Party in the state and Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the South-West, Comrade Abayomi Arabambi, disagreed with the federal lawmakers posture on direct primaries as the mode for political parties to choose candidates for election.
Arabambi, who described the passage of the bill as anti-democratic and anti-people, said, “The adoption of direct primaries in the passage of the Electoral Reform Act at the National Assembly is anti-democratic and anti-people. It is also illegal. They want to hand over the Nigerian political space to rich men.
“Why do they want to decide for a political party how they are going to run their affairs? How many motions have been moved by this crop of legislators who want to strangulate the political class or Nigerians who have a mission to rebuild the country so as to remain in power.
“Must everybody come to APC and must they tell other political parties how they have to run their internal democracy? Why will anybody sit down and tell us this is the way that we should conduct our primaries. We are saying no to that nonsense.
“How do they expect INEC to cover you when you are conducting primary elections? Many parties may be holding their primaries on the same day. Where is the Adhoc staff, who will fund INEC and the staff that INEC will use to monitor the direct primaries? We have 236 wards in Ogun State now. So you expect INEC to mobilise 236 x5 to go and monitor those primaries, where will they get that staff from?”
But the Chairman of the NNPP in the state, Comrade Olaposi Oginni, described the passage of the bill to adopt direct primaries as the best mode for elections in the country.
Oginni, who faulted the state governors’ opposition to the Electoral Reform Act bill on direct primaries, stated that the governors were afraid that they would not make it back for another term or have power over the party’s structure to impose the candidates of their choices for election.
He, therefore, appealed to President Muhamamdu Buhari to assent to the bill for the sake of the people, hinting that it was the best mode for political parties to present good candidates to contest in elections in Nigeria for a better democracy
“What they have done is the best for our democracy because it makes every member of that political party a decision maker in the affairs of those parties and then it makes it more difficult for state governors to impose their candidates.
“What happened in Anambra State has shown that anybody can be the governor of the state. It is going to be a kind of process that shows the best of the candidates with less rancour in the party. Although it may be time consuming and the costly in terms of funding, it is the best.”
Apart from the position of their political parties on the matter, some governors have voiced their opposition to direct primary.
Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State likened the development to digging a mountain out of a molehill or storm in a tea cup and expressed surprise over reactions to the bill.
In an interview on national television last week, Fayemi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, said he was interested in good governance and indifferent to which mode of election, direct and indirect or consensus, that was adopted by parties to choose their candidates for elections towards that end. Even so, he made a veiled opposition to it. He said he does not see any governor who would be afraid of any mode to elect candidates for elections. Laws, he added, “should be made for the future benefit of others, not just for the moment.”
Similarly, his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, while vouching for the indifference of “any governor on the platforms of the APC, PDP or APGA,” to direct or indirect primary options, however, warned, “I am not afraid of direct primary, but they lawmakers should not try and set the people against the government. It may backfire. We are not mature to that point yet where democracy is government of the people for the people or by the people otherwise every Nigerian would be at the National Assembly. Governors are ready, but the decision must be democratic.”
Then he dropped the reasons being used by some of his colleagues opposing the bill, saying, “I will caution that when we are making laws, we should not use our emotions.”
Reacting, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State said the issue of direct or indirect primaries should be the exclusive decision of the political parties in the country. For him, the National Assembly was interfering in the internal politics of the parties by prescribing how political parties should conduct their primaries.
“A party could adopt a method and procedure in electing who represents them at various levels. It is not the duty of the National Assembly to dictate that you must do it by direct or indirect method. That is not democracy. That should be an internal affair of the party,” he said, adding, “The National Assembly should realise that doing that is interfering in the internal politics of the parties and that will not augur well.”
The APC and the PDP are on the same page in their opposition to direct primary. Both parties have described as unacceptable the approval given by the National Assembly for the adoption of direct primary election by political parties in the nomination of candidates for elections.
Speaking on behalf of the ACP, Governor Atiku Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, who doubles as the Chairman of the Progressives Governors of the governing party, said the National Assembly’s idea of direct primary was undemocratic and an interference in internal affairs of parties
He said, “We discussed the pros and cons. There was concern that political parties are voluntary organisations. We express the concern that political parties be allowed to choose from the options that they so desire. There is an Executive Order, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari against large gatherings. These are issues we discussed and hope that the best will be achieved for Nigeria.”
Bagudu continued, “Direct primary involves a supervisory role by INEC. So, if multiple political parties are doing their primaries, INEC’s resources will be overstretched. I think the chairman of INEC has even commented on that.”
In a statement released last Tuesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said, “It is the inalienable right of each political party, within the context of our constitutional democracy, to decide its form of internal democratic practices, including the processes of nominating its candidates for elections at any level.
“The PDP also believes that no political party should force its own processes on any other political party as the direct primaries amendment, a practice of the APC, sought to achieve.”
‘CAGING’ THE GOVERNORS?
The arrow-heads of direct primary appear to be some members of the Senate who have disagreements with their governors and those who have governorship ambition, particularly Senator Adamu Alero of Kebbi State, who deployed the appropriate words to support direct primary. He said direct primary would discourage money bags from taking over and determining the outcome of elections in the country, strengthen the electoral process and give Nigerians more power to select their desired leaders.
Its adoption, he added, would help the electorate to ensure that questionable characters were not elected in governance.
On his part, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who once contested in a governorship election in Ekiti State and currently eyes the plum job, said, “Direct primary is a way of giving power to the people since every member will enjoy that right of selecting a candidate.”
Bamidele said that if democracy must grow, direct primary should be adopted.
He stressed the importance of the recommendation in Clause 87 (4), which gives room to the submission of guidelines for the conduct of the primary to INEC, and added that sub-section 7 stated that every aspirant was entitled to have a copy of the guideline at least 14 days to the primaries.
A remote example of what faces governors upon adoption of direct primaries is presented by what happened in Lagos State in 2019. APC members and leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, banking on the alleged disaffection of the members with the incumbent governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, adopted direct primaries for the election of their governorship candidate. The use of an indirect primary, as the party in the state had earlier planned, would have meant a window for Ambode to control the delegates usually made up of commissioners, assistants, local government chairmen and many senior and junior lawmakers.
For a political party whose constitution adopts both direct and indirect primaries, this Lagos example was a convenient strategy to deal with a potential rival, who was ready for a showdown with his opponent but with the pending legislature becoming a law, the possibility of such manoeuvres and manipulation may fade with time, with the people growing to assert their power to choose and be chosen.
The Secretary-General of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezugwu, paints this picture in his response to an interview with THEWILL: “There is nothing wrong about the direct primary. It actually returns power back to the people. It may not fully achieve its intended purpose immediately because politicians will find ways to manipulate the process, but in the long run, Nigeria’s democracy will be better for it,” he said.
The Anchor of Journalists Hangout on TVC, Babjide Otitoju, spoke on this from his experience as a journalist. According to him, the amendment bill is an idea and its time has come.
“Senators are often quarantined by governors and they cannot vote. Some governors are interested in seats occupied by senior lawmakers. Look at the way Senator Shehu Sani was booted out by Governor Nasril el-Rufai. The idea behind the law is that everybody will have his vote, uncontrolled. Direct primary will strip governors of their power of controlling and sponsoring delegates. It is democratic, participatory. Governors are selfish by saying INEC will need more money and manpower to conduct primaries,” he said.
Ezugwu weighs in on the likely motive of the senior lawmakers. “I don’t think the intention is to cage the governors or anybody. The lawmakers merely yielded to the demands of citizens across the geopolitical zones, who made their input during the period of the presentation of memoranda. However, it will limit the level of manipulation on the choice of candidate during indirect primaries where delegates are easily bought by politicians,” he said.
DIRECT PRIMARY: WHAT THE BILL TO AMEND THE ELECTORAL ACT SAYS
Clause 87 in the bill to amend the Electoral Act speaks on Nomination of candidates by parties.
Subsection 1: 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 the Commission.
Subsection 3: The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions by direct primaries shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunity of being voted for by members of the party and given the opportunity to have agents for the purpose of monitoring the primaries.
Subsection 4: The procedure adopted for the direct primaries shall be spelt out in a guideline to be issued by the political party and filed with the Commission at least 14 days before the primary election.
Subsection 5: A political party shall maintain a register of its members and provide in the guideline for the conduct of the primaries that the register of its members shall be used for accreditation for the primaries.
Subsection 6: The Commission shall deploy personnel to monitor the primaries in all the centres where the direct primaries are held.
Subsection 7: Every aspirant cleared by the party to contest at the primary not later than fourteen days to the primary shall be entitled to a copy of the guideline for the conduct of the primaries in which he or she is participating.
These seven sections address the fears being raised against and for direct primaries. None of the options had been safe from strife, fairness, rancor, violence and ballot snatching, which the two major parties, APC and PDP are battling with crisis after the conduct of some primaries.
ARGUMENTS FOR DIRECT PRIMARY
Scholars who have researched the subject say that those who argue for primary elections tend to say that:
•Direct primary elections help the political party select the candidate that is most likely to win a general election by consulting a considerable number of those who are likely to vote for the party’s candidates.
•Direct primary elections start the democratic process, even before the general election.
•Direct primary elections give the candidate(s) a clear mandate and legitimacy, since the decision has been taken by party members in general and not only by the leadership.
•Direct primary elections give a party, its candidate(s) and perhaps its platform significant public visibility.
•Direct primary elections empower the ordinary members and engage them in party strategy and key decisions.
•Direct primary elections help members overrule unpopular but entrenched party elites.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST DIRECT PRIMARY
•Direct primary elections do not produce the candidate(s) most likely to win the general election, since only a small fraction of party members (usually hard-liners) tend to vote in primary elections. Strategically, it might be better to choose candidate(s) who can also appeal to other parties’ members or supporters rather than only to the party’s own core members.
•Direct primary elections are very expensive and unless organised and paid for through the public purse (which they are in some cases) take funds away from the general election campaign.
•Direct primary elections encourage internal party strife, instead of fostering an environment of negotiation, consultation and compromise at a time when efforts need to be focused on defeating external challengers, not internal ones.
•Direct primary elections take the decision away from the most experienced, the office holders, and party leadership. Instead, ordinary party members with little or no experience of running for or holding public office get to decide.
•Direct primary elections weaken the party structures by putting the focus on individual candidates rather than on the party manifesto or policies.
WAITING FOR BUHARI
Following the resolution of the meeting of the APC trip-partite committee, a conflict resolution body of the party, in State House last week, it is highly likely that President Muhammadu Buhari may sign the Electoral Act intact, despite indications that the Progressives Governors Forum supported by Malami, have perfected plans to scuttle it.
“Acting on the President’s mandate, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo called today’s meeting to allow for all parties to ventilate their voices in a no-holds-barred manner. It was a family meeting. At the end, a common ground was reached, direct primaries was upheld and aspirants under our party can now go back to the people and seek endorsement rather than giving a few delegates the power to decide for all,” said Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Office of the Vice-President.
CNPP’s Ezugwu said, “I think that if the President means well for the country’s democracy, he will sign it into law.”
He may have to. According to him, the senior lawmakers, who appear determined to have their way, would veto the President if he fails to sign it.
Speaking on this, the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and lawmaker representing Plateau North Senatorial District, Istifanus Gyang, said,“I can assure you that many of my colleagues are, on a bi-partisan basis, committed to this and we will not fail Nigerians. If the President fails, we will not fail Nigerians.”
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Deputy Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
