Electoral Act: Parties, aspirants face high hurdles over consensus, direct primaries

2026-03-02 - 01:27

...Controversy and chaos around party registers and membership cards ....Defected governors, others’ tickets threatened ...Opposition parties, leaders pursue legal action ...Why NASS included manual, electronic transmissions in Electoral Act — Speaker Abbas By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor & Gift ChapiOdekina TO realise their 2027 aspirations, a host of opposition political parties and leaders are facing a high hurdle mounted by the 2026 Electoral Act. Also caught in the trap set by Section 84(2) and other sections of the new electoral law are serving lawmakers at all levels and governors. Section 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 provides: “The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for various elective positions shall be direct primaries or consensus.” The section further provided that for a candidate to emerge via consensus, there must be written consent by other aspirants. Direct primary entails that all members of the party are taking part in the selection of a candidate. Consensus means other aspirants stepping down for a sole aspirant. In the 2022 Electoral Act, parties could pick candidates through direct primary, indirect primary or consensus. In an indirect primary, delegates elected from the wards, local councils and state, and statutory delegates meet at a convention to elect a delegate. A frontline presidential candidate told Vanguard that opposition parties were the targets of the new electoral provision. He said: “The All Progressives Congress, APC, does not want opposition parties to field candidates. APC already has President Bola Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate. It is not so in a leading coalition party like the ADC that has currently at least three major aspirants(Atiku, Obi and Amaechi). They know forging a consensus will be difficult. “Going through direct primary is also tortuous for the parties and aspirants. It means all aspirants must mobilise all members of the party across the country. It is easier to mobilise a few delegates than all members of the party. It is tough in terms of cost both for aspirants and parties that must organise congresses in each of the over 8,800 wards of the country. This is an attempt to stifle opposition and democracy.” A political analyst said governors, especially those who recently defected could be harmed by direct primaries. “They are new in their new parties. Can they get support from members in the grassroots? The provision seems to have empowered national leadership of the parties. We saw how they disqualified many aspirants to pave the way for a governor to emerge as a consensus candidate recently. The disqualification weapon can be deployed against any aspirant by the party hierarchy. The lawmakers wanted to whittle down the power of governors, who control the process in indirect primaries. But they too are at risk. Many of them will be undone by the law they passed . They too must mobilise party members in their constituencies.” Chaos of party register and membership cards Apart from the APC which claims to be conducting a nationwide registration exercise, most of the other political parties do not have a functional party register; and where such exists, the need for it to be updated renders the documents ineffectual in the face of direct primaries. The primaries are to be monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The spirit of the new Electoral Act, 2026 suggests that INEC would play a more than casual role. This is because a direct primary that would require the participation of all members of the party at all levels would require a party register that is up to date. Contingent on a valid party register would be authentic membership cards for members. The membership card would serve as a means of certifying authentic members of the party who are eligible to participate in the primary and vote. The chaos that would attend the process for most of the other parties, especially the main opposition ADC, would be of both embarrassing nature and one that would render the process discombobulate. ADC, NNPP leaders kick Angered by the provisions of Section 84, which they described as a threat to democracy, opposition political parties and their leaders, drawn from the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, on Thursday, vowed to challenge the provision in court. Led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; 2023 Labour Party, LP presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi; former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; former Senate President David Mark; former Osun State Governor, Engr Rauf Aregbesola; and Elder statesman, Buba Galadima among others, the leaders rejected the amended Electoral Act 2026 signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They warned at a joint press briefing that its implementation could trigger a democratic crisis ahead of the 2027 general elections. At a joint press conference in Abuja, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra governor Peter Obi, former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, former Senate President David Mark, and NNPP chieftain Buba Galadima, among others, described the law as “anti-democratic” and a threat to electoral transparency. Their position was read by NNPP National Chairman, Ajuji Ahmed. Apart from direct primary or consensus, leaders also accused the ruling party of attempting to weaken electronic transmission of results and interfere in party primaries. Section 60(3) At the centre of the dispute is the provision in Section 60(3), which the opposition said creates room for manipulation by allowing manual backup where electronic transmission fails. “We, therefore, state unequivocally that the new Electoral Act is anti-democratic and its implementation will undermine electoral transparency and sanctity of the ballot. “This negation is unambiguously intended to provide a blank cheque to those who seek to manipulate election results by delaying electronic transmission on the pretext of network failure.” Direct primaries row Rejecting the amendment to Section 84 mandating direct primaries or consensus for candidate selection, they said: “There is nothing undemocratic about indirect primaries,” and described the provision as an unconstitutional intrusion into party autonomy. “There can only be one reason for this amendment: to create chaos in opposition parties in the hope that they would not be able to present a candidate.” They vowed to challenge the law through constitutional means. Act will strengthen democracy – Tinubu While signing the electoral act amendment bill into law, President Tinubu defended the reforms, saying they would deepen democracy and promote grassroots participation. Exuding confidence at the ceremony, Tinubu said the Electoral Act 2026 would “strengthen democracy and propel grassroots development,” noting that the introduction of direct primaries and consensus options would enhance internal party democracy. He maintained that the reforms were designed to close loopholes and improve electoral credibility. Presidency fires back Indeed, the Presidency, weekend pooh-poohed the opposition’s outcry, dismissing their allegations as “reckless” and accused opposition parties of misinformation. In a statement by Presidential Spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency said the Act allowed real-time transmission while retaining Form EC8A as backup in case of network failure. “The opposition’s claim that Form EC8A creates a loophole is illogical,” the statement said, insisting that Nigeria remains a vibrant multi-party democracy. Why NASS included manual, electronic transmissions in Electoral Act – Speaker Abbas Meanwhile, speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has said the National Assembly included both electronic and manual transmissions of results in the amended Electoral Act to avoid disenfranchising the electorate and preventing voter apathy during the 2027 general elections. Abbas noted that due to inadequate internet penetration in the country, it would be counterproductive to allow only one electronic form of results transmission in the Electoral Act. He spoke when he hosted the Ambassador of Spain in Nigeria, Ambassador Felix Costales, during a courtesy call in his office in Abuja weekend. He received the Spanish Ambassador in the company of the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Kabir Bichi; the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Wole Oke; and the Chairman of the Nigeria-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, Jafaru Yakubu. This is even as the Spanish Ambassador revealed that his country also transmitted election results manually. The speaker also assured that, based on his interaction with chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, the 2027 general elections “will be more transparent, accommodating, and inclusive.” On the Electoral Act, he said: ‘’As you said, sometimes people scream far beyond the exact level of the issue. A lot of people think we need to embrace electronic transmission real-time in Nigeria, but within the very little period that you’ve been in Nigeria, you should be able to speak on the quality of our internet network. ‘’You should know that even in advanced cities such as Abuja, you are not guaranteed stable internet services all the time. “Based on the NCC report, they said Nigeria is still underserved by almost 40 per cent, which means 40 per cent of territories in Nigeria are not covered by the internet. Now, tell me, for those who are saying we should go ahead and do that, already if you look at the number of our registered voters in this country, it is alarming. ‘’It is sad to say that even with the manual arrangement we are using, we are only able to capture about 12-15 per cent of registered voters who, after every four years, come to vote. That’s voter apathy. Very few people go out to vote. “Now, if we are to introduce (only) the electronic system, it will further reduce the number because 40 per cent of the country will probably not be able to vote as they don’t have adequate internet services. ‘’It means what we should be expecting is not only disenfranchising the voters, denying some people the right to vote, we will also record, perhaps, the lowest number of voters in the next elections. ‘’These are all avoidable. That is why we said, in our wisdom, the Electoral Act should be hybrid, a combination of both the manual and electronic systems. ‘’Where it is feasible to use the electronic, use the electronic transmission; where it is not possible, use the manual, because there is no way one form, particularly the electronic, can be used entirely in all parts of the country for the elections.” Abbas explained that members of the opposition who rose against the inclusion of both electronic and manual transmission of results knew the true situation of the inadequacy of internet services in the country. “The opposition, even though they know the truth, they are Nigerians, they live in Nigeria, they travel all over Nigeria, they know that the level of internet penetration in Nigeria is inadequate. ‘’There is no way you will be able to have transparent elections using an inadequate system, and through our energy crisis in the country as well, we do not have enough electricity. The internet is always backed by energy. ‘’How do you power the entire country on the day of election to have phones that are working and internet that is working, backed by adequate electricity? All those are challenges that, for now, will not be able to provide us the opportunity to do transmission real time online,’’ he said. The speaker, who noted that every democracy was a work in progress, said further: “In our entire democracy, we will continue to improve year after year, election after election. America is not what it is today (just like that) if you look at its history. All democracies undergo challenges. I believe Nigeria, with the support of countries such as Spain, will do better. “We expect you to continue to guide us and give us all the technical advice and support to do better, particularly in the National Assembly, through collaboration between your country and our parliament. ‘’It will go a long way in strengthening our competence, particularly in areas of legislative drafting and so on. I believe with what you have in Spain, Nigeria can benefit a lot.” Explaining that Nigeria was doing its best to improve its democracy, Abbas said: “You cannot say you have everything that you require. You keep learning. We believe Nigeria is not doing badly, even though it may not be at the rate the international community would want to see, but we are moving slowly and gradually. ‘’I assure you that the next election is going to be more transparent, more accommodating, and more inclusive than the previous ones. I had the singular opportunity of being with the new INEC chairman. I heard all his plans, what he is planning to do. I believe if all that he said is implemented, Nigeria will move forward.” Earlier in his remarks, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Contales, said his visit was to seek the understanding of the Nigerian pparliament to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the area of legislative diplomacy. The envoy, who disclosed that Spain would follow the 2027 elections closely, assured: “You can count on us, whatever we can do to deepen Nigerian democracy. Yes, there may be challenges, but you can count on us in any way possible. “I know it is a busy time for the parliament, with the approval of a new Electoral Act. I wanted to come and visit you before then. We have the elections here already. Because of the importance of your country, we want to deepen parliamentary diplomacy with Nigeria. ‘’It is not yet as developed as we have with other nations, but it is something we should try and welcome in the future, maybe after the elections.”