Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Electoral aspirants in the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been enjoined to accept whatever becomes of the forthcoming primary elections for the goodness of the party in particular, and the state in general.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq made the call, on Thursday, in his keynote address to a one-day workshop sensitising politicians on the 2022 Electoral Act ahead of next year’s general elections.
In the message read by the Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi on his behalf, the governor said, “I enjoined members of All Progressives Congress (APC) that whatever happens at the primaries, please remember that this is one family and everyone belongs in the room”.
He added, “To win the 2023 election, all of us must recommit ourselves to the whole essence and spirit of ‘Ot o Ge’, we must remind ourselves always that Kwara cannot go back to the era where the destiny of our people was tied to some single individuals. We may disagree as progressives”.
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Similarly, the governor admonished political parties in the country to adhere strictly to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 in picking their candidates for the 2023 general elections.
He pointed out that there are new provisions in the Electoral Act that are revolutionary warning that non-adherence to the provisions of the Act could undo whatever efforts of any political party or candidate if it/he runs foul of the the provisions.
He, therefore, urged government appointees eyeing elective offices in the state to go through the new electoral Act because saying, “ignorance is not an excuse in law.
“It is on this note that I send my best wishes to all our appointees who are leaving to contest for elective offices. That is in the spirit of Section 84 (12) of the Act”.
The governor also counselled his fellow APC members not to lose focus saying; “but we must never lose focus of the burden of history. To that extent, I call for unity, peaceful conduct, discipline, fairness, selflessness, and respect for the rule of law as we go into our primaries”.
A Guest Lecturer at the workshop, Roland Otaru SAN reminded politicians that all the sections of the Electoral Act, 2022 are important and must be compiled with pointing out that every section of the Act contains the word “shall” meaning; it must be done.
Otaru also reminded politicians that the proper conduct of a primary election is a ‘sine qua non’ in a democracy.
His words, “let me point out very strongly that if the primary election is not properly handled, the loss of a party springs from the conduct of a primary election.
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“The reason for this is not far-fetched. Some party stalwarts usually referred to as ‘god-fathers’ impose candidates on the electorate.
“This does not augur well for the sustainability of our democratic ethos and pathos. This is why the Electoral Act, 2022 makes the provisions for the conduct of party primaries under Sections 82-85 of the Electoral Act, 2022”, Otaru added.
Also, in his lecture, titled, “My Thoughts on Internal Democracy Within A Political Party In Nigeria,” a don; Prof Hassan Saliu said internal democracy is important for democracy to be well entrenched in the country adding that; “without internal democracy within a political party, hardly can the content of national democracy manifest”.
Saliu, who is the president of the Political Science Association of Nigeria, said all the three models recommended for selection of candidates in the 2022 Electoral Act are democratic in nature and, must be in practice.
