A chieftain of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Buba Galadima, says Electoral Act 2026 was designed to frustrate opposition parties.
Galadima made this remark on Saturday in Abuja at the NDC aspirants’ summit, alleging that President Bola Tinubu-led government has destroyed democracy in Nigeria.
The elder statesman accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, of setting up a committee long before the electoral bill was presented to the national assembly to draft a legislation that would favour the party.
He blasted provisions of the law relating to the emergence of party candidates.
“By the time the national assembly deliberated and finalised on the draft electoral bill, within an hour, the president was signing the bill,” he said.
“Did he study that bill? So, it means they have already prepared a bill before him.
“What were the contents of that bill? One of them which concerns this summit is that you can only generate candidates through two ways. That is, through consensus or through direct primaries.
“Now, in the opinion of the APC and its government, they thought that the opposition will not be in a position to sit down and do consensus.
“And if they can’t do consensus, the only option open to them is to go and do direct primaries. I want to say, without fear of being contradicted, that no political party in the opposition can do direct primaries and come out completely clean,” he said.
He, therefore, warned party members and aspirants against adopting direct primaries ahead of the 2027 elections, urging them to embrace consensus arrangements instead.
Electoral Act 2026 designed to frustrate opposition parties – Buba Galadima