The political party primaries in Nigeria have sparked significant concern and anxiety regarding the upcoming elections. Political parties demonstrated a blatant disregard for their members, prioritizing only the president, state governors, and party godfathers. A large segment of the political class has been marginalized, leaving many feeling cheated, bitter, and betrayed. The process has established that recruitment into political office is no longer based on candidate popularity, as voting has been effectively removed from the selection process.
Disregard for Democratic Principles
The lessons from the party primaries season indicate that democracy and ethical behavior have been erased from the Nigerian political system. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) imposed a narrow timeline, insisting all primaries be concluded by May 30. This deadline was challenged, and the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Mohammad G. Umar in Abuja, nullified INEC's deadline. However, fearing potential judicial consequences, major parties opted to comply with INEC's original deadline, as they appealed and Nigerians are familiar with court processes.
Under the provisions of the new Electoral Act, primaries were conducted either through consensus arrangements or direct elections. In Nigerian political language, consensus equates to imposition, where the boss decides who the consensus candidate is. Direct primaries, by law, should allow all party members to vote for a candidate. However, no political party in the country has the capacity to organize such elections across all 8,809 wards. Consequently, direct voting in primaries often means party leaders simply assign numbers to candidates as they please, a process known as results by declaration. This method is efficient as it prevents any actual voting that could disrupt the godfather's decision, turning the process into a mere pretense.
APC Primaries: A Case Study
It came as no surprise when the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries took place across 8,809 wards in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. President Bola Tinubu won with 10,999,967 votes, as announced by Senator Pius Anyim at the Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja on Sunday, May 23. Notably, the APC did not choose Eagles Square for the announcement; instead, it was held in a building named after Tinubu himself. The only issue was that no one witnessed any voting taking place. To lend the process an air of legitimacy, competition, and credibility, Tinubu was challenged by an unknown figure, Stanley Osifo from Edo State. Many saw his name for the first time, as he was allocated 16,504 votes. According to rumors, he was handsomely rewarded for his role in this theatrical performance.
The main outcome of the APC primaries was that only those approved by the president were allocated winning votes or consensus declarations. There were no surprise victories. Hordes of prospective candidates had been persuaded to abandon their parties and join the APC, with promises of tickets. Most were shocked to discover they had been deceived, used, and discarded. Only afterward did they realize that all doors had been closed, as the Electoral Act now prevents them from running under another party for nominations, a strategy many had used in the past. Joining the ruling party is no longer a winning strategy.
Other Parties and National Assembly Fallout
The APC is not the only party guilty of these practices. In the African Democratic Congress (ADC), there were two congresses. Dumebi Kachikwu was declared the presidential candidate of one faction, while in the David Mark faction, the contest was among Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, and Mohammed Hayatudeen. Atiku won with a massive lead, but both Amaechi and Hayatudeen claimed the numbers were fabricated in a blatant process of electoral fraud. Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, a party baron, declared that the level of rigging in the ADC was so high that he would jump ship and support his former political enemy, Bola Tinubu.
Many APC members in the National Assembly suffered political defeats. The APC had 242 members in the House of Representatives and 88 senators. Many did not receive return tickets, as they were either screened out, outsmarted, or defeated through the declaration process. Dr. Ajibola Bashiru, national secretary of the APC, had stated that all results would be declared centrally from the party secretariat, but no one listened. Instead, results were collated and announced on site under the direction of state governors. Governors, as is well known, prefer to remove powerful legislators who gain political weight and replace them with more loyal allies. Many losers are appealing the outcomes but find themselves caught in a quagmire where the judiciary is largely controlled by those in power.
An interesting case study emerged in Rivers State, where the governor faced a different reality. Governor Simi Fubara was screened out of the nomination process after falling out of favor with a godfather who is not even a member of the APC but is a friend of the APC president. He could not secure a single nomination for his allies in the national and state assemblies.
Mafia-Style Recruitment and Symbolic Message
The political party primaries are enough reasons for concern and anxiety about the forthcoming elections. Political parties showed absolute disregard for party members, valuing only the president, state governors, and party godfathers. A significant part of the political class has been played out, feeling cheated, bitter, and betrayed. The process has established that recruitment into political office is not based on candidate popularity because voting is no longer part of the selection process. Nigeria now has a mafia-style recruitment process where the boss, the capo, chooses, and the entire organization must obey or be eliminated. This is above all a symbolic process, telling Nigerians that they have no role to play.
When President Tinubu is reported to have received 11 million votes in the APC primaries, far more than his total votes in the 2023 presidential election of 8,805,475, the implication is that he would get even more votes in the 2027 general election because the system is now configured that way. Over 120 members of the National Assembly, comprising both the Senate and the House of Representatives, defected from the political parties that brought them to the chambers. Most sought their party's tickets for re-election but to no avail, sparking outrage. Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North) accused the APC leadership of deception, alleging he was promised an automatic return ticket before defecting from the PDP to the ruling party.
The message from those in power is that the rule of law no longer operates in the process. Section 87 of the Electoral Act prescribes: "(1) A political party that adopts a consensus candidate shall secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for the position, indicating their voluntary withdrawal from the race and their endorsement of the consensus candidate. (2) Where a political party is unable to secure the written consent of all cleared aspirants for a consensus candidate, it shall revert to the choice of direct primaries for the nomination of candidates for elective positions." These provisions were simply disregarded, and even former ministers are now complaining that they rejected the consensus method but their protests were ignored. Now, it is clear that only anointing by the godfather is a legitimate door to power. Who can still claim we live in a democracy?
