A PROPOSED amendment to the Electoral Act, which will -if accepted by lawmakers -preclude parties from choosing their candidates through state congress or national convention, is in the works.

The proposal, a baby of The Presidency, was denounced last night as an attempt to short-circuit democracy and abridge the people’s rights to choose their leaders.

Instead of State Congress or National Convention by political parties to elect their presidential and other candidates, the Presidency is proposing that a party caucus primaries option should be allowed, with the National Executive Committee having the final say.

Besides, The Presidency is seeking the removal of Section 31 of the Electoral Act that prescribes time limit for the filing and disposal of election petitions.

The proposals are suspected to be part of a new plot to checkmate some presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the North, who are insisting on zoning and challenging President Goodluck Jonathan’s bid to return to power in 2011.

As at press time last night, there were strong indications that the PDP leadership might opt for caucus primaries to "edge out" some governors, as well as ex-President Ibrahim Babangida, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Gen. Aliyu Gusau and Governor Bukola Saraki from the presidential primaries.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that The recourse to party caucus primaries is one of the major highlights of the 2010 Electoral Act amendments, which have been sent to the National Assembly.

But, it was not immediately clear last night whether the National Assembly will allow the proposals, which are already causing tension in the ruling party.

The Presidency has proposed amendments to Section 30(1); 31(1 and ; Section 87 (2) and (5); Section 87(12(A and B); Section 87(13); and Section 134.

But, of all the proposals, the introduction of "ambush clauses" for primaries in Section 87 has created tension within the ruling PDP, especially among the presidential aspirants.

In the 2010 Electoral Act assented to by the President, the National Assembly recommended direct and indirect primaries for the choice of candidates.

In its amendment drive, the Presidency has opted for party caucus primaries.

A copy of the proposed amendments, on which The Nation stumbled, reads:

Section 87 (1 and 2): "A political party seeking to nominate candidates for election under this Act shall hold primaries to all elective positions.

"The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct or indirect or party caucus primaries."

Section 87(11) and (12) (a and b) says: "Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election under this Act, pending the determination of the suit.

"The National Executive Committee of a political party shall have the final decision in the nomination of candidates for the positions mentioned in this section.

"For the purpose of this section, the NEC of a political party shall in addition to the persons mentioned in the Constitution of the political party include:- (i) Principal officers, chairmen, vice-chairmen of Standing Committees in the Senate (ii) Principal officers, chairmen, and deputy chairmen of Standing Committees in the House of Representatives.

"Party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the positions mentioned in this section shall follow the order of election provided in Section 25 of the Principal Act."

The Presidency’s proposal seeks to delete from the Electoral Act Section 134, which allows that an election petition be disposed off within 180 days.

It said: "Section 134 is redundant as it has been provided for in the Constitution (First Alternation) Act 2010 in Section 285(5), (6), and (."

Regarding the Notice of Election, the proposed amendment to Section 30 says: "The commission shall not later than 120 days (instead of the previous 90 days) before the day appointed for holding of an election under this Act, publish a notice in each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (a) stating the date of the election; and (b) appointing the place at which nomination papers are to be delivered."

On the submission of list of candidates and their affidavits, the Presidency has proposed these amendments to Section 31(1 and as follows: "Every political party shall, not later than 90 days (instead of 60 days) before the date appointed for a general election under the provisions of this Act, submit to the commission in the prescribed forms the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the election.

"A political party that presents to the commission the name of a candidate who does not meet the qualifications stipulated in this Section shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a maximum fine of N500,000."

But a top source in the PDP said: "Some of these proposals are curious, especially the empowerment of party caucus to conduct primaries to pick candidates. It is unfortunate that most members of our party will not have a say on who becomes their flag bearers.

"The recourse to party caucus primaries is borne out of fear that either the State Congress or National Convention may not favour some governors and President Goodluck Jonathan.

"In the interest of our democracy, the National Assembly should reject these proposals. Even ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, as difficult as it was for him to get his second term ticket, went through the primaries.

"From the look of things, with these landmines, other presidential aspirants, except the President, can be technically edged out of the 2011 race."

Another party source said: "We are all worried over the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act because some of the new clauses, especially the one on party caucus primaries, are not in tandem with the demand of the Independent National Electoral Commission. What INEC asked for was just more time.

"This is why it is necessary for our party leaders and INEC to be more curious about these extraneous clauses."

The time constraint for INEC necessitated poll shift which was hitherto scheduled to begin on January 15, 2011 to April 2, 2011(starting with National Assembly Elections) according to a tentative timetable forwarded to the Senate last week.

Jega had at a meeting with leaders of 62 political parties on September 21 said INEC would need more time for voters registration.

This is to prepare and conduct credible elections.

He said: "At this commission, we have repeatedly insisted that we shall work within the existing legal framework as contained in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and the Electoral Act 2010. We have also consistently said that the more time we have, the better the outcome of both the registration of voters and the 2011 elections. These positions have been informed by at least two considerations.

"In the first place, it is not the constitutional responsibility of INEC to establish or change the legal framework, including timeliness, for electoral activities. Consequently, to canvass the change in the legal framework or constitutional provisions on election dates would not only be inappropriate, but could open the commission to public suspicion, given the well known recent electoral history of Nigeria.

"Secondly, the question of fixing and changing election dates has been one of the major sore points of our electoral experience in Nigeria . The degree of partisanship that usually informs discussions of these issues is legendary. Consequently, we decided as a Commission that direct involvement in such debates could undermine the independence of INEC in the public eyes."

The request of INEC chairman for more time was spontaneously approved by the parties.

Jega in a follow-up letter to Jonathan on the outcome of the meeting with the 62 parties, highlighted INEC’s time constraint.

In a letter to the Senate, dated September 29, 2010, the INEC chairman added: "The extension of time sought will enable the commission to have more time to train ad-hoc staff for the registration exercise and for the conduct of the 2011 elections. The commission will also gain more time to engage in intensive voter education campaign."




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