The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says it has received the news of the passage of the harmonised Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which among other things, provided for direct primaries for nomination of candidates for elections by political parties.
The party, however, held that it is the inalienable right of each political
party, within the context of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, to
decide its form of internal democratic practices including the processes
of nominating its candidates for elections at any level.
In a statement by the party’s spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP
said it believes that no political party should force its own processes on
any other political party as the direct primaries amendment, a practice of
the All Progressives Congress, APC, sought to achieve.
The PDP further stated that it shall, within the next 48 hours, make its
final decision in respect of the amendment known to the public.
The Senate and the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed a
harmonized version of the 2010 Electoral Act (amendment) Bill, 2021,
after adopting the report of their joint Conference Committee.
Among others, the synchronized version of the bill mandates all political
parties to conduct their primaries using the direct method.
