Direct/indirect primaries: NASS leaders, members guilty as govs – PGF boss

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the director-general, Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Moh Lukman, has said the National Assembly leaders and its members were as guilty as governors in the on-going debate to either adopt direct or indirect primaries for the selection of candidates by political parties.

Lukman also revealed that the insertion of the provisions requiring political parties to adopt the direct method in the passed Electoral Act would appear to be an afterthought.

In a statement issued Friday in Abuja, he appealed to all APC leaders to understand and appreciate that the challenges facing both the party and the nation required “strong unity, especially among leaders.”

He said: “For the use of indirect methods as a means of imposing candidates through corrupt practices, almost all elected representatives in the National Assembly are as guilty as governors. From the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives to all the APC and House Representatives members, they must have all paid for every vote they got during internal party primary leading to their election. At that time, they must have been very good loyal partners of governors.

“By the way, there are at least twelve former governors currently serving as APC senators. While negotiating to emerge as senators, they must have also been working to ensure the emergence of their preferred choices who are currently serving as governors through the dreaded indirect method.

“Could these former governors who are currently serving as senators claim to be innocent of all the undemocratic practices associated with the indirect method? Could the current serving governors be the only promoters of the bad undemocratic practices of imposition, vote buying, etc, through the indirect method?”