In a move read by political pundits as a placation of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate on Wednesday inserted the consensus mode of primary in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, which the president recently declined to assent.
However, the Senate deleted the compulsory direct primaries mode in the bill, which it is reconsidering, alongside the House of Representatives, following Buhari’s rejection.
Both chambers of the National Assembly have now deleted compulsory direct primaries from the bill.
While the House opened up the parties to choose adopting direct or indirect primaries, the Senate included direct and indirect primaries as well as the consensus mode as suggested by the President in a recent Channels Television.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives amended Clause Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 which is Clause 84 of the electoral bill, by inserting the indirect primary option.
The Senate, however, adopted Clause 84(2) as recommended by the Committee of the Whole and approved direct primary, indirect primary or consensus as procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for elections.
The disagreement between both arms of the National Assembly could delay the passage of the bill.
The Senate also approved the recommended Clause 84(3) which prescribes that: “A political party that adopts the direct primaries procedure shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunity of being voted for by members of the party and shall adopt the procedure outlined below: (a) In the case of Presidential Primaries, all registered members of the party are to vote for aspirants of their choice at a designated centre at each ward of the federation.
It provides further that “similar procedure as in (a) above, shall be adopted for governorship senatorial, federal and state constituencies.”
However, a coalition of non-state actors has rejected the consensus option introduced by the Senate into the Electoral. Act Bill 2021.
But the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) commended the National Assembly for its prompt act of reviewing the Electoral Bill 2021.
The NGOs are Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre, Centre for Citizens with Disability, The Albino Foundation, CLEEN Foundation, Institute for Media and Society, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, Partners for Electoral Reform, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Nigeria Network of Non-Governmental Organizations and Inclusive Friends Association.
A joint statement of the groups signed by Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, stated that the consensus mode of primary “is antithetical to democratic principles and will result in the subversion of popular will” and sought “the immediate withdrawal of this new introduction which is alien to the original Electoral Bill 2021 to speed up the work of the harmonization committee and conclusion of the amendment process on or before the 21 January 2022 deadline.”
The groups added: “We reject the decision of the Senate to introduce a completely new mode of ‘consensus’ as a procedure for candidates’ nomination. The consensus mode is antithetical to democratic principles and will result in the subversion of popular will. Furthermore, it violates the rights of aspirants to equal participation in party primaries and limits the choice of voters to candidates who did not emerge from democratic primary elections.
“Judging from experience, consensus has occasioned a litany of litigation in Nigeria’s electoral process. We call on the Senate to, in line with the popular will of Nigerians, adopt the position of the House of Representatives which now recognizes direct and indirect primaries as procedure for nomination of candidates.”
“We therefore call for the immediate withdrawal of this new introduction which is alien to the original Electoral Bill 2021 to speed up the work of the harmonization committee and conclusion of the amendment process on or before the 21 January 2022 deadline”
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