Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara has called for the adoption of direct voting method where all card carrying members of political parties are allowed to choose candidates who will represent their parties in elections.

The Speaker said this on Thursday, while responding to a request from a delegation from the Conference of Female Parliamentarians of State Houses of Assembly, led by its chairperson, Hon Elizabeth Ativie, at the National Assembly, that Option A4 should be included in the Electoral Act.

He argued that direct primaries was more effective in choosing the true candidate of the people because it takes away the option of manipulation of a few delegates by interested parties, who have more financial or political influence.

Speaking on the merits of Option A4, he said, “it is there in most of the Constitution of our political parties where primaries are supposed to be by direct or indirect means. But in most cases, most political parties, if not all, have always opted for the indirect primaries.

“To be more candid, direct primaries can help even in general elections because once a candidate emerges under those conditions, you will know that he is generally accepted by the people.

“When it comes to the delegate, it has always been very easy for political actors to manipulate the process.

“In some cases, someone will house the entire delegates. If he happens to have a lot of money, he will house them in hotels, prevent all other candidates from having access to them and is under that process that the candidate emerges”, he said.
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The Speaker maintained that, in most cases, the people who had the capacity, “either the political will, the financial muscle to do this, dictate who are the actual representatives for the people.”



“Unfortunately too, our laws do not help matters since we do not have independent candidacy. The only requirement is that you must have a political party platform before you are elected into any office. It therefore means that something has to be done in order to free the process.

“In order to ensure that this process is truly transparent and democratic and the only way is to let all card carrying members of a political party participate in the election of their candidate. So to this suggestion, you already have a convert in me”, Dogara added.

While assuring them that the House would pass the Gender Equality Bill, the Speaker urged the state legislators to engage their federal counterparts to ensure that a consensus is reached on the issues raised.