The National Assembly on Wednesday gave its nod to the direct and indirect primary clauses to be inserted into the Electoral Bill.
This, therefore, led to the re-amendment of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, making a provision that the political parties in the country can conduct their primaries through either the direct or indirect method.
The Bill was introduced into both chambers of the Assembly, by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi and Rep Abubakar Hassan Fulata, respectively.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari withheld his assent to the bill passed by the National Assembly late last year in protest against the provision of direct primaries as the only method for the parties to choose their candidates during primaries.
The Bill provided that “a political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Commission (INEC).”
The Electoral Act of 2010 originally provided for both direct and indirect primaries, before the National Assembly removed “indirect” primaries.
The revised version of the Bill will subsequently be returned to the President for his assent.
