The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s decisive aversion to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill might merely result in a fruitless exercise if at the end of the day; its implementation was not supported by the required funding by the executive.
National Chairman, Engr Yabagi Yusuf Sani, while briefing newsmen in Abuja on the new year, said IPAC was inclined to the opinions that National Assembly’s position on indirect primaries amounted to an attempt to usurp the constitutional rights of parties as to the method of choice of flag bearers.
He said the National Assembly members acted as interlopers by trying to run political parties from the hallowed chambers.
According to him, in the context of international practices, primary elections cannot be legislated upon, and are best left to the discretion of the political parties.
“We believe and wish to accordingly admonish that as elected officials, the National Assembly and executive arms should be rather more concerned about ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and how to reduce the costs of democratic practices and make our democracy more resilient.
“The way out of the logjam in our view in the IPAC, is for the shifting of grounds by the legislature and the executive arms of government for a compromise and amicable resolution resulting in a win win scenario.
“This should not be a difficult task given that the two arms are, incidentally, controlled by the same political party, the APC. The IPAC is accordingly, recommending that the Legislature should accede to the expunging of the clauses regarding direct primary election thereby saving the other equally important provisions among which, is the one on the mandatory electronic transmission of election results by INEC.
“By that, we believe that President Muhammadu Buhari should have no further reason to withhold his assent.
“To avoid further pitfalls in the remodeling and implementation of this law, we suggest that the legislature and the executive should consider carrying IPAC along.
“This is in view of the fact that the Bill directly affects our members, the political parties, who will implement the law when eventually enacted,”he said.
