2023: Governors checkmated as Direct primaries excite ministers

The inclusion of Direct Primaries in the Electoral Act Amendment by the Senate on Tuesday has revived the political career of some ministers.

The development has, however, checkmated the excessive influence of governors in the choice of who gets party’s ticket for elective positions in 2023 and future elections.

Members of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet were excited about the development when the news filtered into the venue of a two-day Presidential Retreat in Abuja.

Some of the ministers especially those who are former governors have lost relevance in their states’ politics.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Office of the Vice President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, confirmed the excitement of the minister.

His words: “We were at the FEC Retreat on Tuesday when the news came in that the Senate has passed an amended electoral law….

“I was not surprised when at the retreat, friends who were governors and are now ministers or appointees were jubilant. They were so excited that they now have a window of opportunity to be relevant in their states again.

“It was an opportunity for me to tell them that you people were opposed to this when you were governors. Why are you converts now that you are no more governors? It is simply because there are new masters, new Lords of the manor now in their states and they too are experiencing the other side of life.

“Many are political exiles in Abuja having been driven out of their states by present governors and are now irrelevant in the scheme of things.”

The presidential aide stated that most of the present lawmakers would have lost their chances of returning in 2023 elections if the Indirect mode of primaries was to be used.

“If the Indirect mode of primaries were left in place most of the present lawmakers will not return in 2023 as many were not allowed in the past thus robbing the NASS of experienced members. The governors would have found new alter boys and girls,” he said.

Ojudu described the passage of Direct Primaries in the amendment of the Electoral Act as a loss to the governors but a victory for the lawmakers.

“Members of the National Assembly have been threatening to do this since the Ward Congress of APC took place. Many of them were disenfranchised in their constituencies and had no hope of returning. Many were chased away from their Wards on the order of their governors. They could not vote and their supporters could not be voted for. Those who emerged officials at this level end up being delegates in Indirect Primaries. The almighty governors let them know that their political careers are now at their mercies.

“Yesterday’s decision was a victory for the lawmakers and a loss for the despots in the states.

“It is also a victory for President Buhari who has all the while canvassed for mass participation in choosing candidates as opposed to the process that subsists and allow for manipulation. It is not as if the Direct Primaries are fool proof or perfect but it gives an advantage to a good organiser or a candidate loved by the people but detested by his governor, particularly when INEC may have to organize this.

“The lesson is: governors today will tomorrow be no governors. Let us put in place a democratic and fair process that serves all of us. Not the one that gives us advantage today and tomorrow makes us hold the wrong side of the stick,” Ojudu said.

He also spoke on the importance of Direct Primaries.

According to him, “For those who may not know, Direct Primaries allow all members of the party in a particular electoral constituency to vote to elect who will represent them in particular elections. The Indirect Primaries allow only delegates to vote. Delegates in most cases are put in place by governors and godfathers. Governors also have huge funds to resource them. This gives undue advantage to the man currently in power and in money. It does not allow the emergence of the independent minded, most competent but the most malleable and sometimes most stupid.”