From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has charged, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO), to seriously beam their light on the Political Party Primaries during its internal elections.
The Commission through its Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made the call today at the 1st Quarterly Consultative Meeting with CSOs at the INEC headquarters, Abuja.
He said from various reports gathered in the previous elections by CSOs, shows that political party candidates uses money to buy delegates to favour their aspirations which must be checked, if there should be any headway.
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According to him, “I would like to urge CSOs to be as interested in party primaries as you are actively engaged in the monitoring of secondary elections conducted by INEC.
“Afterall, only the candidates nominated by the political parties are placed on the ballot paper for citizens to vote for on Election Day. From your monitoring reports as accredited election observers, you have consistently expressed concern over vote-buying at Polling Units during elections.
“Some of you have made actionable recommendations on how to curtail the menace which have been favourably considered by the Commission. It is time to cast your net wide by focusing on the incidence of delegate-buying by aspirants during primaries.
“Some delegates openly boasted of how much money they made from aspirants during party primaries. You should intensify your advocacy in support of the practical steps taken by the relevant security and law enforcement agencies to tackle this diabolical practice”, he narrated.
On Anambra and Federal Capital Territory elections, he said, “the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election on 17th October last year. The next activity is the conduct of party primaries which begins next month. All political parties interested in fielding candidates for the election shall commence their primaries on 20th March 2025 and end three weeks later on 10th April 2025.
“Similarly, the Commission has released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which is the only part of the country where INEC conducts Local Government election.
“The election will hold on Saturday 21st February 2026. As you are aware, the four-year tenure of the six Chairmen and 62 Councillors will end next year. The Timetable for the election is already uploaded to our website.
Responding, the representative of the CSOs, Ezenwa Nwagwu of Partners for Electoral Reforms, welcomed INEC’s call for greater vigilance while promising to step up their monitoring efforts ahead of the upcoming elections especially party primaries.
“We will work closely with INEC and other stakeholders to ensure that the electoral process is free, fair, and credible”.
“As Nigeria prepares for another round of elections, the spotlight remains on INEC and its partners to deliver a transparent and credible process. The Commission’s proactive stance on vote buying and delegate manipulation signals a renewed commitment to addressing the challenges that have plagued previous elections.
“However, the success of these efforts will depend on the collective action of all stakeholders, including political parties, security agencies, and civil society organizations”, Nwagwu said.
