A call has been made to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the National Assembly to revisit the section of party primary elections in the Electoral Act that was recently assented to.
The Organisation for Global Youths Peace Empowerment and Development Initiative which made the call, urged political parties in Nigeria to abolish the method of indirect primary election that produced delegates, to ensure the emergence of right candidates.
The National Coordinator of the non-partisan group, Japhet Omene, who stated this during its voter enlightenment campaign, said delegates make the emergence of quality candidates impossible.
He said, ”The usage of delegates during party primaries is undemocratic and unsuitable for Nigeria’s development as unpopular candidates always emerge at the end of the election. They emerge due to the corruption that always mar the exercise.
“The just concluded party primaries in the country is a justification. We all saw that almost all the candidates who won primaries spent millions of Naira to bribe delegates.
“It is pathetic to see candidates with questionable records and discrepancies in their certificates, emerge as party flag bearers when there were other aspirants who were better suited for the positions being contested for.
“We can’t continue with this system as a nation. Therefore, if Nigeria must change for good, delegates can’t be collecting bribes to produce candidates at the expense of millions of Nigerians who are clamouring for real change.”
Omene further advised political parties to seek alternatives of producing their candidates.
