Some APC Leaders, Power Blocs Pushing Direct Mode of Primary to Hoodwink Party, Says PGF DG

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has alleged that some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were pushing for direct mode of primary to hoodwink the party.

The National Assembly recently passed direct mode of primary in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that would soon be transmitted to the President for assent.

But Lukman in a statement issued yesterday said beyond the sentiments in favour of direct primary therefore, there was need to properly outline a clear administrative framework under the law, which would guide the process and guarantee that all the bad practices associated with the indirect method are eliminated.

According to him, the whole scheming pushing party leaders to use structures outside the statutory organs of the party may not be even about addressing challenges facing the party but perhaps about realising political aspirations of some party leaders and power blocs.

The APC chieftain said understandably, part of the sentiment informing the actions of members of the National Assembly was that Nigerians have little or zero confidence on the disposition of party leaders, who are alleged to be under the direct control of Governors.

Lukman stressed that largely because of this perception, there was an ongoing media campaign blackmailing governors that they were the ones perpetrating all the bad practices associated with the indirect methods and therefore the reason why they were against the adoption of direct primary.

He stated: “The whole debate about adopting direct method as part of the Electoral Act is mainly an APC agenda. There may be a calculated attempt by a section of APC leadership whose interest is to hoodwink APC members and Nigerians with the direct primary dummy.”

“If the truth is to be told, direct method of selecting candidates within the APC began to be corrupted under the dissolved National Working Committee led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

“There were instances during 2019 elections, when the process of nominating APC candidates for election was manipulated using the direct primary, largely because no credible membership register existed since the November 22, 2014 vandalisation of the APC Membership Data Centre by the DSS.”

Lukman said with the state of things in APC whereby in virtually all states with serving governors in charge, the proposed amended law with all its ambiguities would instead strengthen the capacity of governors or any leader who is in control of structures of the party to manipulate the process of nominating candidates.

He stressed that in states such as Delta, Sokoto and Taraba, for instance, where there are no APC governors, leading members of the party in the National Assembly are the people in charge.

The PGF director general pointed out that there are other states such as Adamawa, Rivers and Bayelsa and at least eight other states where governors are not responsible for the possible undemocratic practices taking place.

He added: “Besides the issue of using the indirect method as a means of imposing candidates through corrupt practices, almost all elected representatives in the National Assembly are as guilty as governors.”

He said it was worrisome that APC members in the National Assembly are the ones pushing for this amendment.

“He said rather than leaders of the party negotiating among themselves on what needs to be done to produce internal agreement to resolve all challenges facing the party, increasingly structures of the party are being abandoned and other structures outside the statutory organs of the party are being used to attempt to address perceived problems.”