The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday cautioned political parties against non-transparent primaries in order to sustain Nigeria’s democracy.
The FCT INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC), Yahaya Bello, made the call at the ‘Stakeholders Interactive Session in Respect of the Forthcoming Political Party Congresses and Primaries’, in Abuja.
According to Bello, the call became imperative because a good and credible election begins with a transparent and credible part primaries crowned with internal democracy.
He recalled that during the just concluded FCT Area Council Election, the results of some primaries conducted were very seriously contested and challenged in litigations that went all the way to the Supreme Court. “This put the Commission under a lot of strain and stress and the political parties as well”, he stated.
The Commission therefore passionately remind all political parties that they are supposed to be very critical stakeholders and partners of INEC and should join in our zeal to entrench and sustain democracy in the nation.
“Political parties are, therefore, urged to play their expected part by ensuring that party internal democracy is very well orchestrated by making your congresses and primaries more transparent, fair and acceptable by your members.’’
Bello said that the party congresses and primaries were billed to start on April 4, 2022, to June 3, 2022, to enable all parties to practicalise their internal democracy as required by section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended).
The REC further said that the stack of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs) in INEC’s custody dating as far back as the 2019 registration exercise was worrisome, adding that apart from the space being consumed in storing the PVCs, there was also a need to consider the huge amount of funds expended in their production.
Bello said that there was also the issue of then congested polling units with several voters ranging from 100 to 300, which prompted INEC to expand the voter access polling units by creating other polling units at close range.
