Who’s afraid of direct primaries?

No sooner had the senate made it mandatory for political parties to adopt the direct primary mode for its elections, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) went on an overdrive.

Am I missing something here?, I thought the PDP is the bastion and champion of transparency? Why is the process to make the selection of candidates transparent being resisted by the PDP?

I remember when the senate was pussyfooting on the electronic transmission of results, the PDP was in the forefront of the campaign to make it mandatory — which was commendable.

Indeed, I see no reason why in this century we will be doing manual transmission of results which gives room for manipulation of results. I also do not see why we are not adopting electronic voting, if Kaduna state can adopt electronic voting for its local government elections. I strongly believe we are ripe for electronic voting which will greatly reduce incidences of ballot box snatching, thuggery, rigging, and violence in our elections.

You know elections in our dear country are always a do-or-die affair by our politicians. The rate of violence in our elections is loathsome. We need to stop. The citizens should be allowed to choose who governs them at all levels and the influence of the courts in determining who becomes governor, senator, or president should be minimal.

I remember some clowns at the national assembly were saying there was no network in their villages and constituencies, so the electronic transmission of results is not possible, and these same senators call people and make transfers to people in their villages daily.

Besides, you don’t expect a Nigerian politician to support any process that will make our election transparent. The opposition PDP was in support of it because they assume the ruling party will use state apparatus to win elections. If the PDP were the ruling party, they would have acted exactly like the ruling APC. Now that we have electronic transmission of results, the ultimate goal should be electronic voting.

It is doable.

It is instructive to note that direct primaries involve the process whereby all card-carrying members of a party get to choose their candidates for election while the indirect primary system is the delegate system.

It’s an open secret in Nigeria that the most lucrative job in the season of election is to be a delegate to choose candidates, especially in the presidential election. It’s always a dollar rain in the presidential primaries. Some smart delegates collect money from each of the candidates and the highest bidder usually wins. Suffice to say, the delegate system is a perfect fit for moneybags and anointed candidates of the godfathers.

Needless to say, the direct primary system gives all the party members a sense of belonging while it can also be manipulated; you know, in Nigeria, our deviant politicians are always devising means of manipulating the system. But the direct primary system is still the best. It is the lesser evil.

The PDP should set the pace by using electronic voting and electronic transmission of results to choose their candidates. Both the APC and PDP should use electronic voting to choose their candidates.

I strongly believe it will help strengthen our democracy and allow regular Joes to contest elections. Also, candidates seeking reelection know they have to perform or else they won’t even get their party’s ticket. Any process to give a modicum of transparency to our elections should be supported by all well-meaning Nigerians.

Nda-Isaiah is the political director of LEADERSHIP