Direct primaries: Don’t toil with Nigerians’ wishes, APC chieftain warns govs 

All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Garus Gololo, has cautioned state governors who are oppose to direct primaries for all political parties, as contained in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021 already passed and transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent by the National Assembly, to “stop toiling with the wishes of Nigerians.”

This was even as he Gololo commended the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for his call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the bill into law.

There has been a sharp disagreement between members of the National Assembly and state governors over the mode of primaries for different political parties in the country.

Speaking to journalists at a news conference in Abuja, Gololo said that “the 36 state governors cannot scuttle the wishes of more than 250 million Nigerians who will benefit from the process.

“Direct primaries will ensure a credible electoral system where the people will chose candidates that are trusted enough to promote the development of the society,” he stressed.

Gololo, who is the National President of Northern Conscience for 2023, NCfor2023, however, listed the dangers of indirect primaries to include “withholding local government funds by governors, poor governance and electoral banditry and ballot box snatching, among others,” Dr Gololo regretted that instead of supporting the proposed system, persons allegedly benefitting from the current rot in the polity are bent on scuttling “the laudable initiative.”

He cautioned that “our group is poised to pursue the matter to the Supreme Court if need be.”

The NCfor2023 boss added that the group “will petition the National Judicial Council and the African Union, or even the United Nations in the event these politicians gain undue access and advantage over judges who will superintend over election tribunals.”