Politics
Ekweremadu says for Nigeria’s democracy to work, Direct Primary remains the only viable mode
To consolidate on the Nigerian Nascent democracy former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has indicated that only direct primary election option is most viable in the nomination of candidates.
The senate had infused direct primary as the only option in the 2022 electoral act which prompted President Buhari to decline assent to the bill until the National assembly deleted the clause to allow for Indirect, Direct and Consensus options
Again, most of the senators lost out due to the supremacy battle with their governors as the consensus option was adopted by most States.
A statement issued by his special adviser on media Uche Anichukwu also quoted the lawmaker to have rued the negative influence of narrow and partisan interests in the making of 2022 Electoral Act, as the long-delayed creation of state police could no longer guarantee internal security.
He also called on the nation’s leaders to seek urgent help of the international community to flush out terrorist cartels or risk Nigeria becoming another Somalia.
Ekweremadu spoke at a commemorative lecture, “Nigeria’s Democratic Experience: Reflections on Leadership Recruitment and Democratic Institution Building”, organised by the National Legislative and Democratic Institute (NILDS) in Abuja on Tuesday.
“When we mounted the leadership of the 6th National Assembly in 2007, and in subsequent Assemblies, we took it upon ourselves to reform the electoral system, including strengthening the critical institutions in the electoral process, namely the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the political parties.
“Whereas the INEC has really stabilised and improved greatly, the political parties have not made the expected progress.
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“Some of our efforts include financial autonomy for the INEC; administrative autonomy for the INEC; removal of membership of a political party as a qualification for appointment into the INEC; early release of funds to INEC; early primaries to allow time for resolving any issues, while also allowing the INEC 360 days to prepare for elections; barring of the INEC from rejecting/disqualifying candidates; removal of the INEC officials as respondents in election petitions; removal of restriction on electronic voting; legal backing for smart card readers and any other voter accreditation technology that the INEC may deploy; and electronic transfer of results; and ending of disqualification of candidates by administrative panels.
“Others are compulsory conduct of party primaries to address the issue of impositions; substitution of candidates only in the event of death or written withdrawal by a candidate; early commencement of election campaigns; empowerment of political parties to conduct primary election to replace a candidate who died in the course of an election; timeframe for determination of pre-election matters; timeframe for determination of election petitions; stoppage of government subventions for political parties; window for direct primaries; reduction of age qualification for political offices; stipulation of the conditions and process for deregistration of political parties, among other vital reforms”, he stated.
Ekweremadu, however, said that whereas several milestones were achieved in the Electoral Act 2022, the Act could have been better were the processes not hijacked by narrow and political interests.
He said: “A thorough scrutiny of the Act would show that unlike the Electoral Act 2010, Electoral Act 2022 lacks sequence and coordination, as lot of things were jumbled up.
“Furthermore, it took the intervention of some of us for critical provisions to make it into the Electoral Act. For instance, I personally drafted the provision for the Electronic Transmission of Results for inclusion in the Bill because for whatever reason, it was not there originally.
“It took enormous push by some progressives among the Committee members to push such provisions through.
“Even after we had signed off on the report, there were still attempts to water it down to suit narrow and party interests. Thank God, some of us as well as the media and CSOs were alert.
“It was also the hijack of the process to tailor the law to serve narrow group and partisan interests that resulted in the grave error of the exclusion of statutory delegates, including lawmakers themselves, from participation in party primaries”.
Ekweremadu explained that the whole essence of direct primary was to ensure that all bona fide members of each political party partake in the primary elections and make hijack of the process by a few persons difficult, adding that the result of the veto of that provision by the President and insistence on the restoration of delegate mode and inclusion of consensus mode of nomination was “the recent political fraud perpetrated across the nation and across various political parties in the name of party primaries”.
“Today, not only does money play greater roles in the emergence of candidates, turning delegates to overnight millionaires, because the delegates are fewer, the non-participation of statutory delegates was fate playing into the hands of the governors, who colluded with greedy party leaders to manipulate the emergence of ad-hoc delegates and weaponise them fully for their selfish political interests.
“At the end of the day, democracy and the people, are at the receiving end, as the masses can only elect candidates thrown up by the various political parties.
“My advise, therefore, is that we need to restrict political parties to direct primaries as the only mode of nominating candidates if we truly want to preserve and grow our democracy, and recruit leaders that will truly serve the collective interest” he added.
Ekweremadu, further advocated that only political parties, which made their electronic and biometric membership registers available to INEC at least one year to the commencement of the primary elections, should be allowed to nominate candidates for the general election.
He, however, called for bold steps to “recalibrate our security system because we must first have a secure country before we can have a meaningful democracy”.
“Currently, Nigeria is gliding down the slope and we all have ourselves to blame for refusing to do the right thing over the years.
“Before now, some of us had shouted on top of our voices on the need to decentralise the police system, but to no avail. I sponsored a Bill for the Creation of State Police in the 8th and the current National Assembly, but nobody seemed to pay attention.
“I regret to inform you that by my own estimation and taking lessons from other climes, our condition has become so bad that even state police can no longer save us now.
“Terrorists, bandits, and all manner of criminal cartels have taken the nation by the jugular, and we must now urgently seek the help of the international community, lock the country down, and deal with our security situation.
Otherwise, once a few of the terrorist cartels are able to take full control of a few states for their respective selves, our fate would be like that of Somalia. God forbid”, he concluded.
Former President, Muhammadu Buhari has called for transparency and accountability in the upcoming local government elections in Katsina State.
Speaking during the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meeting on Saturday at the Presidential Banquet Hall in the Katsina Government House, Buhari emphasized the importance of these principles in maintaining public trust and political relevance.
“Transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of good governance and are fundamental to sustaining the confidence of the people,” Buhari said.
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Governor Dikko Radda also addressed party stakeholders at the meeting, urging them to mobilize support at the grassroots level and work towards securing a decisive victory for the APC.
“We are committed to conducting elections that reflect the true will of the people,” Radda stated, highlighting the party’s focus on ensuring transparent, inclusive, and democratic processes.
The governor also underscored Katsina’s political significance, referencing his leadership journey under Buhari’s administration and the recognition the state has received in the form of ministerial and federal appointments under President Bola Tinubu’s government.
In his opening remarks, APC Chairman in Katsina State, Sani Daura, described the caucus meeting as a platform to strengthen party unity and strategize for the elections. He commended Buhari and other stakeholders for their commitment to the party’s success.
Prominent political figures from Katsina, including Senators Abu Ibrahim, Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, Muntari Dandutse, and Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura, were present at the meeting, further underscoring its significance in the lead-up to the elections.
The APC leadership reiterated its commitment to upholding democratic values and ensuring that the local government elections truly reflect the will of the people.
It was a plethora of pleasantries in Osogbo on Thursday, when Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke was named 2024 Governor of the year and endorsed for second tenure in office by the top management of the Leadership Newspaper.
The newspaper’s team was on a courtesy call on Gov Adeleke, Biztellers reports.
Receiving them at the Government House, Gov Adeleke noted that his administration had reduced the infra deficit by over 40 percent.
He added that his administration had also bridged access to primary health care, with an ambition to expand health access at medium and tertiary levels.
He said, “Osun State is constantly getting recognitions for what outsiders and even opposition members regard as our commendable performance.
“In the last one year, our government has been conferred with several awards across the sectors. Aside from reputable newspapers like the leadership stable, we have received accolades from several federal agencies and non-governmental bodies. The consensus from those reviewing our performance and service delivery is that we are true agents of good governance.
“In all these positive ratings, my response has always been to task my team to double their efforts. In the face of overwhelming positive reviews and high approval ratings, I am compelled to drive my team harder. When recently, some opposition figures confessed to our positive ratings, I still believe we have a lot of grounds to cover.
“I am not allowing the praises to enter my head. While it may be true that I have delivered a four-year task in under two years, I am propelled to do more because Osun has been left behind on many fronts. As I have reduced the infra deficit by over 40 percent, my real target Is higher. As I have bridged access to primary health care, my ambition is to also expand health access at medium and tertiary levels. While our records across the sectors are laudable as your newspaper has acknowledged, the ultimate goal is to accelerate infra upgrade alongside the boosting of soft investment for the well-being of our people.
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“I appreciate your candid endorsement of our performance. It is important to note that your yardstick for recognizing us correlates with similar reasons adduced by others. Our huge governance records are undeniable facts especially in workers’ welfare, infrastructure delivery, educational expansion, health care access improvement, solid mineral sector reforms, digital economy initiatives, agricultural mechanisation among others.
“I want to assure the public that our administration is not slowing down. Very soon, I will flag off ongoing remodeling of Osogbo stadium to assume international standard. Prior to the ongoing stadium project, we have engineered the creation of Osun Sport Commission and Osun Sport Fund through appropriate legal and policy framework.
“Very soon, I will be flagging off the dualisation of phase one of Odoori – Post office road at Iwo. The contractor for Iwo -Osogbo road has mobilized to site. We plan to complete the two projects within the life of this administration. Meanwhile, the dualisation project at Ilesa is progressing while the flyover bridge at Ile Ife is ongoing with appreciable progress. 2025 is billed to be a year of further expansion of good governance for the good of man and humanity.
On his part, the Vice Chairman of Leadership Group Mike Okpere, noted that the recognition is in order to give Gov Adeleke an insight and encouragement to do a second term.
“Your excellency you will see that, we didn’t just come down here, we had a meeting before the award and that is why we are here, so this trip is to notify you formally for this award and we personally invite you on the 8th of April at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Asokoro where this award will be handed on over to you.
“Our Reputable Person of the Year is Aliko Dangote, you all are aware of the investment he just concluded, by bringing fuel production into Nigeria, because of that and many other things, we chose him as our person of the year.
“Other person’s that would be sharing the merit are other governors that have touched people’s lives, among them is the Governor from Akwa Ibom State, the Governor of Enugu State, the Governor of Jigawa State and the Governor of Kano State.
“We didn’t call this Leadership Governor of the year, we call it Governor of the year, in other words, what we are saying is that, this recognition will give you an insight and encouragement to do a second term.
“As a newspaper company, we don’t endorse Governors but when we see something we say it, your Excellency sir, I therefore want to present this notification and official invitation”, he added.
Other members of the Leadership Newspaper team includes, Abraham Nda Isaiah, Director, Leadership Group, Ibidiran Ayokunle, Head Southern Operations, Joshua Dada, Osun State.
The Cross River State House of Assembly has initiated the process to amend the Local Government Law 2007, introducing provisions to expand political appointments and enhance local government administration across the state.
The bill, sponsored by Rt. Hon. Davies Etta, representing Abi State Constituency, was debated on Tuesday in Calabar.
It proposes increasing the number of appointees in each Local Government Area (LGA) to 50. Among the new roles are 16 Special Adviser positions and a cadre of officials known as Ward Relation Officers.
According to the bill, “The Chairman of Council may appoint such a number of Special Advisers to assist him in the discharge of his duties, provided that appointments, when added to other statutory appointments, shall not exceed a total number of 50.”
The proposed Ward Relation Officers will hold ranks equivalent to Special Advisers and will report directly to the Chairmen of their respective LGAs.
This move, the Assembly says, is aimed at fostering grassroots engagement and improving governance at the local level.
Another key provision of the bill seeks to elevate the office of the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA) to the status of a Permanent Secretary within the state public service.
The amendment stipulates that HOLGAs will enjoy all the rights, privileges, and entitlements of Permanent Secretaries, including pensions.
“The office of the HOLGA shall be equivalent to the office of a Permanent Secretary of the State Public Service and shall enjoy all rights and privileges of the Permanent Secretary, including pensions,” the bill states.
It also specifies that appointments to the HOLGA position must be made exclusively from within the local government service in the state.
The bill, which has passed its first and second readings, has been referred to a joint committee on Local Government Affairs, Judiciary, and Public Accounts for further review and consultations with stakeholders.
Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem, underscored the importance of the proposed amendment, noting that it would strengthen local government administration and improve service delivery to the grassroots.
The Assembly is expected to hold further deliberations before making a final decision on the proposed amendments.
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