The House of Representatives has finally bowed to the Senate on adding consensus as one of the mode of picking candidates for elections by political parties.
The House of Representatives had earlier attacked the Senate, which had re-amended for a second time, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2022, to include consensus in the provisions, and the mode of primaries for political parties, through a motion titled “Rescission on clause 84 of the Electoral Act No. 26 2010 (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and Committal to the Committee of the Whole” and sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi(APC, Kebbi North).
While the Senate re-amended the Electoral Act, approving direct, indirect primaries or consensus for political parties in choosing their candidates, the House of Representatives on the other hand adopted only the Direct or Indirect and left out the Consensus method.
The Senate said Tuesday that the House of Representatives has finally agreed to be on the same page with the Upper Chamber by concurring with Direct, Indirect or Consensus on how a candidate will emerge.The Senate Leader said that the amended bill provides in clause 84 (2) that, “The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions shall be by direct, indirect primaries or consensus.”
According to the bill in 84(3) “a political party shall not impose nomination qualification or disqualification criteria, measures, or conditions on any aspirant or candidate for any election in its constitution, guidelines, or rules for nomination of candidates for elections, except as prescribed under sections 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 177 and 187 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
