By: Donatus Ihejirika
Party primaries are preparatory elections conducted by registered political parties to select their preferred flagbearers ahead of general elections organized by a national election management body. In Nigeria, party primaries are conducted every four years by political parties for their tested and trusted members seeking elective positions such as President, National Assembly, Governors and Houses of Assembly. Party primaries are also conducted for aspirants in states where off-cycle or off-season elections are held. The states include Anambra,Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, Imo, Osun and Ondo.
The Electoral Amendment Act 2026 specified conditions to be met by registered political parties before participating in general elections. The conditions include notifying the Independent National Electoral Commission of the dates, venues and time for the primary elections. To this end, the Independent National Electoral Commission must be invited to monitor the conduct of the primary elections otherwise the elections will be discarded and nullified and the candidates who emerged from the exercise disqualified from participating in the general elections. Additionally, the Electoral Amendment Act stipulates that nomination or selection of aspirants shall be by consensus method. The delegate system was outlawed because of infractions and malpractices associated with the process.
In exercising the powers vested in it by the Electoral Amendment Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission fixed party primaries between April 23,2026 and May 30,2026. According to the Commission’s revised timetable, all intra-party disputes arising from the conduct of primaries must be resolved before May 30,2026 and names of successful candidates submitted to INEC. Meanwhile, many illustrious citizens of Nigerians have indicated interest to contest partisan offices at the national and state levels in 2027. In the same vein, many political appointees, civil and public servants who are interested in politics have either resigned voluntarily or withdrawn their services in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act and Civil Service Rules.
From all indications, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may unanimously adopt and endorse President Ahmed Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for the presidential election slated for January 16,2027. Already, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)has adopted the President as its presidential candidate. Similarly, some political support groups have volunteered to buy Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Form for the President. The other registered political parties are expected to conduct their primary elections in line with INEC election timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general elections. It is necessary at this juncture to advise the ruling political parties in various states to respect the right of other political parties to operate without poaching and intimidation.
To ensure successful and hitch-free party primaries at all levels, there must be intra-party democracy, cohesion, unity of purpose and transparency in the nomination and voting of aspirants for the various elective positions. Political parties must conduct free, fair and transparent primary elections. They should guard against imposition of aspirants, substitution of names without justification, interference and undue influence of political god-fathers. There is the compelling need for a level playing field for all the aspirants to test their acceptability and popularity at the primary elections. Political parties must put their houses in order and resist the temptation of presenting half-baked, incredible, ineligible and unpopular aspirants who do not have grassroot support to the people. Political parties risk their chances at the 2027 general elections if they sponsor aspirants with questionable integrity,stooge mentality and absolute loyalty to god-fathers to the electorate. Political god-fatherism and abuse of power of incumbency threaten the foundations of democratic institutions, undermine, erode public trust in the electoral process and truncate people’s consent and mandate. Most importantly, political parties, aspirants and their supporters must abide by rules and regulations guiding the conduct of party primaries. Party primary elections should not be seen as a do-or-die affair but rather an expression of interest to serve the people or contribute to democratic governance. The aspirants should be reminded that in every electoral contest, there must be winners and losers. Those who may emerge victorious at the primaries should be magnanimous in victory while those who may lose should be gracious in defeat. The losers should support the winners to win the main elections. They should not cross-carpet or defect to other political parties to work against the success of their opponents or political parties at the general elections.
Finally, to guide against political thuggery and political terrorism, there is need for adequate security at the venues of the primary elections. Security agencies and agents should ensure that political thugs and hoodlums do not disrupt the primary elections of opposition political parties. They should protect all the aspirants, INEC officials and election materials. While discharging their duties, the security agents must be impartial, neutral and resist the temptation of being conscripted or used to harass or intimidate rival opposition political parties or their supporters.
