Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Nigeria: Direct Primary Tears The Ruling Party(APC)Apart. 04/09/2018.

…Mass defection looms over nomination fees

With the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yet to come out of its imbroglio over the leadership of the National Assembly, following the recent defection of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party is currently engulfed in another major crisis, over its mode of primary to select candidates for the various elective positions for the 2019 general elections

While the President, Muhammadu Buhari, National leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as well as the serving senators are favoured to the use of direct primary process to pick candidates for the upcoming elections, the APC governors and State Party Chairman are opposed to the process, preferring the use of delegates (Indirect primary) to pick party candidates for the elections.

The Presidency, Tinubu and Oshiomhole have argued that the use of direct primary would reduce the dominating powers of the State governors, who have used the indirect primary process to dictate caged the senators and House of Representatives members, as well as dictating who makes it to whatever position, describing it as wielding much undeserved powers to the State governors.

The issue, which was hotly debated at the last week’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC in Abuja, where the governors disagreed with the NWC, and settled for indirect primary as against the NWC position of direct primary.

Briefing journalist at the end of the NEC meeting, the governors of Plateau and Kogi Sates, Simeon Lalong and Yahaya Bello respectively noted that all the threatening issues were hotly debated on, adding that the NEC took lasting resolutions that have allayed the much reported tensions.

“On the mode of election, it was all agreed that for the presidential election, we are going into direct primaries. But for other elections, there are other options, but the agreement was that we go for indirect primary, but any State that wants to deviate from that has the right to, but must write the NWC and come up with such request, forwarding resolutions from their State Executive Committee for the direct process. The constitution of the party provides for either direct, indirect or consensus, but also a recommendation was adopted that all the States must adopt indirect primary. But there could be circumstances were it may be difficult in some of the States, looking at their peculiarities, such States would apply following the adoption of such by their SEC for the NWC to approve the direct primary process.

But in another media briefing a day after the NEC meeting, the APC National Working Committee (NWC), countered the position of the governors on the party’s mode of conducting primary elections.

APC Acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, told journalists on Friday that the position of Governors Simeon Lalong and Yahaya Bello were not the decisions at the NEC meeting. He contended that rather than the [indirect primaries, which the governors said was approved, the NEC approved the use of direct primary for the election of APC candidates for all the categories, adding that the State Executive Committees must seek the approval of the NWC if it wants to adopt the indirect process.

The NWC position, the AUTHORITY gathered, met the resistance of the governors and their aggrieved allies, who it was further gathered have proposed a meeting yesterday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, where they planned to deliberate and agree on a common position against the NWC position.

Sensing a collective opposition to their stand, the APC NWC hurriedly issued a statement, declaring the planned meeting as illegal, as well as insisting and clarifying their position on direct primary.

The clarification issued by National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress over the mode of the party’s primary has pitted the party leadership against a section of its member, as well as the APC governors who are opposed to direct primary.

In the Statement signed by Yekini Nabena, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, signed the statement issued in Abuja, on Sunday, the party threatened to sanction conveners of the meeting if they went ahead with it and came out with a resolution contrary to the direct primary mode approved by the NWC

Nabena said the attention of the NWC was drawn to an illegal meeting by some members of some yet-to-be named organs of the party with a view to fault the decisions made by the NWC followed by the National Executive Committee as regards the mode of the Party’s primary elections.

He said “We want to state clearly that the meeting which has been fixed for 2pm is illegal and an attempt to puncture the sincere efforts being made by the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC to reposition our Party ahead the 2019 General Elections and to ensure unity, equity and justice in the Party.

“The outcome of such a meeting which is already known will be a nullity and we admonish our members to disregard such meetings in the interest of the Party. It is illegal to call such meetings outside the purview of the constituted authority.”

He claimed that the identities of those plotting such meetings have been identified and that “unless they desist from such they will be dealt with in line with the Party’s Constitution at the appropriate time.”

Nabena further said, “The NWC will resist any attempt to disrupt the current peace and harmony prevailing in our great Party after the exit of some members of our Party.

“We urge any member who is not satisfied with the decisions of the Party to utillize channels provided by the Party’s constitution to air their views. We remain focused on delivering good governance to Nigerians and above all ensuring the victory for our Party come 2019 and we will not be intimidated by the antics of a few in ensuring success for our Party.’

Mass defection looms over high cost of nomination forms
Meanwhile, aspirants are poised for a showdown with the party leadership over the cost of nomination and expression of interest forms
The AUTHORITY gathered that aspirants, seeking the party’s nomination to contest the governorship, National and State Assemblies seats were on a collision course with the party leadership over it hike on the party’s expression of interest and nominations forms for elective positions in the 209 general elections..

The APC’s National Working Committee had proposed N55m as the cost of the nomination and expression of interest forms for the office of President, far higher than the N12m being charged by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Also, as against the PDP’s N6000,000 for House of Assembly aspirants the APC demanded for N1.1m, while for the House of Representatives, APC aspirants are asked to pay N3.8m. as against the PDP’s N1.5m to contest the tickets.

For the Senate, APC aspirants will pay N8.5m as against the N3.5m the PDP is asking from its aspirants for the same position.

Governorship aspirants of the ruling party are asked to pay N22.5m each to contest the ticket as against the N6m to be paid by their counterparts in the PDP.

A member of the party’s NEC, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said the party leadership would stick to “its guns” as regards the fees.”

An aspirant to the House of Representatives, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardise ongoing negotiations, said, “We will be meeting either tomorrow (Sunday) or Monday to prepare a template on the way forward.

“We will give the party the choice of either reviewing the costs downwards or be prepared for mass defections which will certainly follow.”

Speaking on the cost, Governor Lalong said on Thursday that “we debated that and we left it again to the NWC to take a second ;look at their proposal taking into consideration some of the views that were expressed, and come out with an amount that would be reasonable. And any figure they come out with now would be accepted, we don’t need to come back to NEC to debate it again. So that is the power that was given to the NWC.

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