REFORM OF POLITICAL PARTY PRIMARIES IN NIGERIA

PRESENTATION AT THE ALLIANCE FOR CREDIBLE ELECTIONS FORUM, ABUJA, NIGERIA

BY: NASIR AHMAD EL-RUFAI, OFR Congress for Progressive Change, Abuja

WEDNESDAY, 25TH JANUARY, 2012

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Protocols I thank you for inviting me to this august gathering in January. I appreciate your concern for the tragedy that befell my humble self and family at the twilight of last year when my beloved daughter, Yasmin suddenly passed on. The theme of this discussion is centered on the Reformation of political party primaries in Nigeria. It is worthy to note that the focus is timely considering that 2012 and next year is a period when issues of political party candidature and elections into the office of governors in at least five states of the country are at front and centre. Before dwelling on the nucleus of the discussion, there is need for us to elaborately describe some of the elements profound in the tenets for political primaries viz-a-viz electoral processes in Nigeria. Important to note are: What is a political party? And what do political party primaries represent? How can the primaries system be refomed? Political Party A political party could be defined as An organisation of voters formed to influence the governments conduct and policies by nominating and electing candidates to public office1. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, gives primacy to political parties as the veritable platform for constituting political leadership. The Constitution provides thus:
No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of 2 any candidate at an election.

Sections 222 & 223 of the Constitution elucidate further on the criteria for the formation of political parties and the rules through which they (parties) must be run. While section 225 of the Constitution lays down the portal for the financing of political parties; section 224 explicitly requires that the aims and objectives of political parties must be in conformity with Chapter II of the Constitution which contains provisions relating to fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. Although it has been argued at some quarters that provisions of Chapter II of the Constitution are ordinarily non-justice-able except when raised in relation to other specific provisions of the Constitution, the requirement of section 224 mandating a conformity with the chapter is
1 2

Blacks Law Dictionary, 8th Edition, page 1197. S.221, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.

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an exemplification of the fact that the crucifix of good governance remains strictly with a properly constituted political party which would in turn constitute government at all levels. Political Party Primaries What political party primaries entail are detailed in the provisions of the Electoral Act 20103, as amended. The Act classifies political party primaries into two: Direct and Indirect. The direct primaries involve a process whereby all aspirants are given equal opportunity of being voted for DIRECTLY by registered members of the party4. This direct primaries system is the practice in the United States, where registered Republicans, Democrats and even Independents vote directly for aspirants, or in caucuses in a minority of states. In this primaries system, aspirants appeal directly to voters and their preferences rather than party apparatchiks. This is the most democratic system of candidate selection, and makes the membership of the party the truly supreme organ of the party5. Sadly, as a result of the penchant of our political leaders to micro-manage the primaries, this option is hardly ever adopted by the parties because of the possibility of the process getting out of the control of the political god-fathers. Indirect primaries on the other hand, simply connote a delegate conference at various levels at different dates with a possible grand finale at a specified date. This is the option most favoured by political parties in Nigeria and it is the groundswell of political intrigues resulting in bribery, intimidation of delegates and ultimately swapping of candidates with the plethora of court cases that have characterized our political culture in recent times. Perhaps because of the susceptibility of the indirect primaries to manipulation by party leaders, the Electoral Act specifies a detailed procedure for the implementation of the system6. Indirect primaries give party apparatchiks more leeway to determine outcomes of electoral contests and encourage the imposition of the will of the party leadership on the membership.

3 4

Electoral Act 2010, S. 87 Ibid, S.87 (3). 5 Only our party the CPC attempted direct primaries in the 2011 election cycle, and had to abort it due to the absence of an accurate and reliable membership register. 6 Ibid, S.87 (4).

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We have seen a lot of these examples of outright imposition of candidates in many parties, and this practice has been upheld by the Courts. Whether this system advances our democracy in the right direction is an open question. Challenges of Political Party Primaries The challenges of political party primaries in Nigeria are not too far away from the way and manner political parties come into being in the country. Rather than political parties emerging out of the consensus of broad spectrum of elites and the popular choice of the people, they emerge from the prescient of wherewithal of some oligarchs. Often, a single charismatic individual or a handful of money bags come together to establish political parties and register same as laid down by the Electoral Act and then embark on recruitment drive of some foot soldiers and cronies who would do their bidding at all levels whether democratic, credible or otherwise. Once you have political parties established through an illogical process that exemplifies hero worship, dictatorship of money and god-fatherism, it becomes inevitable that a few individuals would arrogate to themselves the ultimate power of who emerge as the candidates of the parties without recourse to merit, due process and democratic practices. In virtually all the political parties, we have witnessed the unfair and unjust substitution of candidates wherein the actual winners of primaries are denied the tickets of the parties in the elections. The PDP expectedly pushed this practice to new heights in 2007 with the case of the current governor of Rivers State: he won the primaries but was denied the opportunity to fly the partys flag in the 2007 elections. He only became the substantive governor of the state due to radical position of the Supreme Court which pronounced him as the duly nominated candidate for the election, and therefore elected governor a few months later7, even though he did not contest in the election. The legislature attempted to cure this mischief via Section 141 of the Electoral Act 2010, but we all await the rulings of appellate courts before the section is established as overruling Amaechi. We have witnessed situations whereby politicians who got sworn into the National Assembly spent up to two years before the authenticities of their candidacy were repudiated at the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. The impact of these kind of flaws in our democratic system can be best imagined, leading the legislature to place time limits on election tribunals to deliver judgments.

Amaechi v. INEC [2008] Vol. 1 M.J.S.C. 1

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The dysfunctional party primaries in our political parties is the foundation for the confusion in our political system whereby lack of internal democracy exacerbates electoral malpractices on a large scale across the political spectrum. The celebrated case of sit-tight Senator Joy Emordi (of the PDP), even after the Court of Appeal had ruled that she was not the authentic candidate to occupy the seat remains fresh in our memory. Proposals for Reform The reform of party primaries begins with the party itself having overriding objective for being in existence - to implement policies most beneficial to the electorate. To do this a political party must formulate policies that benefit the electorate, articulate them clearly and market these in a party manifesto. When the party sells the manifesto successfully, it will win elections and get into power to deliver on its promises. Once policies are defined and continuously refined to benefit the electorate, the party must have an internally-democratic system to select good candidates, and then rally winners and losers of the primaries, and the party supporters to vote such candidates into office. Thus, the party must have amongst its key internal documents the following, as a minimum: 1. clear qualifications for selection of persons as flag-bearers, over and above the minimum qualifications contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2. transparent rules for the conduct of congresses and conventions, 3. clear rules for direct election of aspirants by the registered membership for Direct Primaries, or 4. for Indirect Primaries, transparent procedures for the election of delegates and specifications of those entitled to be delegates without being elected by the membership, consistent with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, and 5. clear undertaking in the party's constitution that no person, organ or authority within the party will change the names of those duly declared winners of congresses, primaries and conventions. Final Note All these work only when we can assume that subsequently, elections will be conducted in a way that will be credible, free and fair. Only credible elections establish an organic

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link between the electorate and the elected, thereby guaranteeing accountability and broadening the space for good governance. It is our hope and desire that we see these in our lifetime. Thank you for inviting me. God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Email: elrufai@aol.com Twitter: @elrufai Facebook: Nasir El-Rufai Skype: nelrufai

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