Following the calls for the inclusion of statutory delegates in political parties’ primaries, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has promised that the Electoral Act 2022 will be amended.
Speaking during a meeting with officials of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Senate President said the amendment of the Act will be done before the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the exemption of the delegates was a mistake that must be corrected.
Also stating that there are several defects with the Electoral Act, the Senate President said it is unfortunate that a delegate is not welcomed in the primaries of his party.
He said, “Without any particular intention of the parliament, in the 2023 elections and the 2022 primaries, we inadvertently, created what I may call super-delegates.
“Because all the statutory delegates, starting from the president, the vice-president, the governors, deputy governors, the senate president, deputy senate president, speaker, deputy speaker, members of parliament, national, sub-national, chairman of councils, and all, were omitted as delegates,” Akpabio said.
According to him, the amendment of the Electoral Act would help make Nigeria’s democracy to become more participatory.
He also assured that the powers given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the final arbiter in deciding candidates for political parties would be reviewed.
He said the political parties should have the deciding right to select the candidate with manifestoes that align with their parties’ ideologies.
In his address, the president of the NBA, Afam Osigwe urged the legislature to work towards reforming the nation’s judicial system.
Osigwe said this should be considered in the ongoing Constitution amendment for the good of democracy and the nation at large.