The national assembly’s insistence on direct primaries, according to President Muhammadu Buhari, is undemocratic.
In November, the national assembly forwarded the electoral act amendment bill to Buhari for his signature.
As part of the revisions offered by the national assembly, the law includes mandatory direct primaries for political parties and electronic transmission of election results.
Buhari, on the other hand, had opposed the bill, claiming that it would expose the electoral system to lawsuit and that adopting direct primary “violates the spirit of democracy.”
Also Read: Electoral Bill: National Assembly’ll Remove Direct Primary Clause, Says Gbajabiamila
In an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, President Buhari said Nigerians should be given options and allowed to choose what they want.
“No. I am not going to support it. Personally, I don’t support direct primaries because I want people to be given a choice. You can’t give them one option and think you are giving them democracy. Let’s have the three options — direct, indirect, and consensus,” Buhari said.
Asked if he would still sign the electoral bill if the national assembly removes the clause he doesn’t agree with, he replied: “I don’t think I told them what I don’t like. What I said was there should be options. We must not insist that it has to be direct. Yes, I will sign the bill. You can’t dictate to people and say you are doing democracy.”
