What is a Primary Election
A primary election is balloting within political parties which allows party members to nominate candidates that will fly the flag of their party during a general election.
Aspiring candidates who wish to represent a party in elections are expected to obtain party nomination forms. As such, primary elections take different forms – direct elections and indirect elections.
Party primary is entirely an internal affair of a political party, but the activities within a party could deepen or mar democratic ideals.
If there is an awkward selection process during primaries, it could affect the representation of the generality of the people. Primaries are held in all democratic societies.
Forms of Primary Election in Nigeria
In Nigeria, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 24, 2022, makes provision for three types of primary election:
- Direct election
- Indirect election
- Consensus
Direct Primary:
This is a process whereby registered and qualified party members are allowed to vote for candidates that will represent the party in a general election.
In some cases, registered party members queue behind the person they want to represent their party in an election.
Direct primary has its cons and pros. But the advantages outweigh the challenges if it is practised in the right way.
Advantages of Direct Primary
1) Direct election is more democratic than any other type of election because party members have the opportunity to vote
2) It is the most credible way of producing credible candidates
3) It enriches freedom and inclusiveness.
4) It reflects popular choice of party members
5) Direct primary election allows a greater chance for transparent electoral victory
6) It broadens participatory democracy
7) It restores the integrity of elections
8) Direct election also creates an egalitarian political society
9) It improves internal democracy within political parties because it is hard for moneybags to bribe all party members in the way they bribe delegates during the indirect primary.
10) It has better chances of reducing the incidence of parallel primaries
11) Another strong argument for the direct primary is that it limits internal party crises that could arise from the exclusion of candidates or manipulation of primary processes by a few
12) It creates equality of voters which means “every voter has a vote and the votes carry the same weight,” according to Leo Dare and Anthony Oyewole
13) It makes party members feel they are part of the process
14) Above all, direct election strengthens the institutions of democracy.
Nigeria as well as most democratic political systems use direct election in selecting representatives, especially in 2019 party primaries in the All Progress Congress (APC) where Maj Gen. Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the flagbearer of APC through a direct election.
Disadvantages:
While the proponents of direct primaries have stronger points, the direct election comes with some challenges, which include:
1) It could be cumbersome to manage in an insecure environment
2) It expensive
3) It can be manipulated in a country where political parties do not have the database of their party members. A non-party member could be mobilised to support a specific candidate
4) It requires a huge presence of security in a country where political offices are seen as a “do or die affair”.
Sources:
- Leo Dare and Anthony Oyewole (1987). “Textbook of Government for Senior Secondary Schools”. Onibonoje Press & Book Industries
- Polyas. “Direct Elections”. polyas.com. Retrieved April 22, 2022
- Tony Akowe (October 20, 2021). “Good, bad and ugly sides of direct primary”. thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved April 21, 2022
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