Governors not afraid of direct primaries - Yahya Bello

image

BY ABUBAKAR H. MUHAMMAD, NOVEMBER 12, 2021 | 12:24 PM


Yahaya Bello, Governor of Kogi State has said that state governors are not afraid of direct primary elections.

He said the governors reaction earlier faulting the adoption of direct primaries for the selection of political party candidates for election was due to some consideration and challenges in the country, noting that the arrangement will demand more funding from political parties and electoral bodies.

Bello said this while speaking in an interview on Wednesday on Channels Television.

The national assembly has this week adopted direct primary as part of the nation's electoral act 2021, which says that all political parties are to conduct direct primaries when picking election candidates, as against past practices.

The law is expected to be transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari in a week's time for assent.

However, governors of All Progressive Congress, APC, and the People's Democratic Party, PDP, and other stakeholders have earlier kicked against the law citing several reasons.

Speaking further, Governor Bello said that lawmakers should not make laws on the basis of sentiments without considering the country's situation, adding that the direct primaries will also lead to budget increase on Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who are mandated to play supervisory roles in the exercise.

He said also that the proposal will frustrate small political parties that do not have enough resources to mobilize people and organise direct primaries.

'On the issue of taking the party back to the people, the question is who took the party away from the people in the first place? Is it the legislature or the executive? I think the party remains with the people,' he said.

'We, as governors, I don’t think anybody is afraid of direct primary. No governor, I can tell you — not APC, not PDP, not APGA; at least these are the parties that we have today.

'Let me tell you that I will always caution that whenever we are making laws or taking decisions, we should not base it on the impulse of the moment.

'We are not saying anybody is afraid of direct primary. The drafters of the party constitution, especially at it affects APC, envisaged that there could be a situation where one particular mode of primary may not be feasible, then you adopt another.

'The drafters envisaged that there are issues like that where there will be options. If you now come up with a legislation and you say it must be one, what happens if a situation arises and congresses cannot be held or primary can’t be held? And you are saying INEC must observe. What happens if such can’t happen? It means there is no primary.

'Let there be options, because if we box ourselves into a corner because of certain perceptions and try to set the people against the party or against the government, we may be consumed at the end of the day.

'I, governor Yahaya Bello, am not afraid of direct primary. In fact, if anything I will even prefer it. I’m confident of my popularity and whoever is popular should go and test popularity at the polls.

'Whether APC governor, PDP governor, any governor at all that is afraid of direct primary means he is not popular and I can assure you no governor is not popular in his state.

'And in any case, I’m telling you of the implication — let the general public not be set against the governors or against the government. We, governors, are all ready for direct primaries,' the governor explained.


Appeal for support


Conflict Reporting is dangerous and risky. Our reporters constantly face life-threatening challenges, sometimes surviving ambushes, kidnap attempts and attacks by the whiskers as they travel and go into communities to get authentic and firsthand information. But we dare it every day, nonetheless, in order to keep you informed of the true situation of the victims, the trends in the conflicts and ultimately help in peace building processes. But these come at huge cost to us. We are therefore appealing to you to help our cause by donating to us through any of the following means. You can also donate working tools, which are even more primary to our work. We thank you sincerely as you help our cause.

Alternatively, you can also email us on info@yen.ng or message us
via +234 803 931 7767