All Progressives Congress aspirant and ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan, has proposed that Section 84 of the current Electoral Act be repealed to allow political parties to decide on modalities for primaries.
This proposal was made by Jonathan on Thursday in Abuja, during the public presentation of a book titled, ‘Political Party Governance’ written by ex-Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil.
According to the former President, the National Assembly should give political parties the freedom to approach some issues in a variety of ways because the parties’ requirements are distinct.
He said, “Give parties the leverage. The key thing is that the Independent National Electoral Commission is regulating them.
“They mentor them, and the system they will adopt in selecting their candidates must be documented in their constitution and copies deposited with INEC. That is what will be used to judge that party.”
“Parties are not parastatals of government and the National Assembly cannot make laws that choke the political parties. That is my take on this controversial issue,” he said, according to Vanguard.