With the 2023 General Elections around the corner with political party trying to meet the dateline for the submission of the list of candidates at all levels with political parties conducting their primaries to produce flagbearers, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have again reiterated the strategic importance of fair and credible primary elections in engendering positive democratic externalities within the context of the forthcoming transition process in the Country.

According to the CSOs which comprised of YIAGA Africa, AfriPeace, CISLAC, Transition Monitoring Group, Centr for the Advocacy of Justice & Rights, Women in Nigeria and Zero Corruption Coalition, with less than a Week to the June 9th, 2022 given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of Party Primaries hinted that they are still adhering to with their earlier demand Candidates must, among other things emerge from credible, rules-based primaries in line with democratic standards and best practice.
They said manipulated and stage-managed primaries are antithetical to democratic ideals and must be avoided to the barest minimum.
They called on political parties yet to nominate Presidential Candidates to ensure they deliver Presidential Primaries that are not free and fair in the theoretical or abstract sense but in terms of intrinsic transparency and accountability in its accreditation, voting and collation process.
“We call on political parties to collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies to curtail the rather asinine monetization of the nomination process. The so-called ‘dollar rain’ needs to be brought to a definitive end, and delegates sensitized on the necessity of voting their conscience over primordial and pecuniary considerations. All political parties must consequently safeguard the sanctity of secret ballot system by institutionalizing binding transparency, anti-inducement and trust engendering measures that reinforces the confidence of all stakeholders in the primary election process.

“Such confidence on the electoral process will further be bolstered through more robust mechanisms such as banning of handheld devices in the voting booths, accreditation of delegates, through the use of National Identity cards, passports, driver’s licence or voter’s card as credible means of identification for the purposes of accreditation.
“As we collectively strive to build democratic institutions that would promote balanced and accelerated development, we urged INEC to enforce its regulatory powers against political parties that contravene provision of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines before, during and after the Primaries” the statement concluded.

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2020 Elections: CSOs Call for Transparent and Rules-based Presidential Primaries by Political Parties