By: Ade Adeleke
A Chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC in Ondo state and Aide to the state Governor, Prince Biyi Poroye, has called on political parties such as APC and PDP to make modes of primary election they want to adopt as aspirants for the 2023 general election continue to emerge.
No political party has made public mode of primary amidst logjam over the rejection of the clause in the amended electoral bill by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Addressing newsmen in Akure on Friday, Prince Poroye, said Nigerians are ready for any type of party primary but such should be made known to aspirants for the state assembly, national assembly and Presidential positions, to enable them know how to prepare.
Poroye said, “of course, we are part of this country and part of this nation and we are politicians and political leaders and people kept on asking questions as regards the electoral bill especially the conduct of party primaries. We have looked at it and discovered that Nigerians are not particular about the type of primaries whether direct or indirect or consensus.
“Nigerians are not looking at it that way. What Nigeria should see from ongoing is that if you decide that a party is going to conduct its primary through direct primary then how? What measures are you putting in place to ensure that it is free and fair.
“If it is indirect and it is going to involve all the registered members in the party, how do you do it? How do you come come about it? If it is Consensus, how do you come about it? What Method?
“Those are what Nigerians are out to see from the electoral bill and it is good in a way the President returned the bill to the National Assembly for them to look at and the President in his opinion felt we shouldn’t have one way of electing our representatives at the primary level which is good, but the major thing that Nigerians what to know is that there must be a time frame at which party primaries position the type will be related to the public.
“For example, you cannot have three ways of electing candidates at the primary level and for six months and one year the aspirants in the political party would not know of these types of primaries you are going to use.
“Our concern is that in coming up with the new amended electoral bill, there should be a time frame there should be or let’s say 9 months to the political primary, the political participants should know the type of particular primary they want to use to conduct the our election; so that aspirant will not be wasting resources and be working as if they’re blind people, and at the end of day or few weeks to primary, somebody will come up and say no we are going to use direct primary when there are speculation, we shouldn’t live by speculations electoral bill or law should be clear enough for everybody to know from onset and when this time frame is given.
“It has to be backed up with law and be published, pasted across polling units or party Secretariats. In Ondo State for example, the leadership of the party have agreed that it is going to be by consensus, nobody will be wasting his or her time talking to the generality of the people, or wasting resources, there will be no need for confusion here and there so that is the concern especially the Political gladiators in our state here.
“You can see in the last election that the Governor did mention to the people that whatever means or types of primaries the party may want to bring forth to conduct the Governorship primary that he is willing, and that is what is happening. We look at it that many did not know the actual types of Primaries that would be used this time around.
“That is the essence of coming together. Of course we have interacted with people in Abuja and they are not looking at it from this direction, That is why we are making it public so that whenever they are making amendment, when they are making input, it has to be stated in the law,” Poroye opined.
