ABUJA –Â The House of Representatives on Thursday set up an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of irregularities and fraud perpetrated by political parties in the just concluded party primaries.
This followed complaints brought before it on the matter by the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the House, who cried out over the alleged irregularities and maltreatment meted out to them in the just concluded primary election of the party.
In a motion of urgent public importance, Abubakar Chika Adamu (Niger, APC), lambasted the ruling party for what he called lack of internal democracy in the conduct of the party primaries.
Adamu complained that Rafinya/Shiroro/Munya Federal Constituency of Niger State which he represents at the green chamber was affected by the irregularities and manipulations, accusing the party leadership of bias.
He further accused the party of orchestrating a scam and lamented that party nomination forms were too exorbitant and outrageous.
According to the lawmaker, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC abdicated its responsibility during the primary elections as the supervisor of political parties as provided for in Sec 7 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
He further expressed displeasure over the conduct of some state governors, who he alleged were hell bent on installing of their stooges as governor in spite of clear provisions of the partyâ€
s constitution.
He also hinted that there were cases of violent attack on innocent citizens by thugs and party agents during the primary elections in his state.
The APC lawmaker, therefore, asked the House to set up a committee to investigate the matter and have a report on the partyâ€s primary.
Speaking in support, Adekunle Akinlade (Ogun, APC), who contested the governorship ticket of the party in his state and lost, said that the party shortchanged so many of its members during the exercise.
He stated that he won the Ogun State APC governorship primary but the APC party leadership decided to share the position to other contenders for the ticket.
Also in his contributions, Muhammad Soba (Kaduna, APC), said that he felt shortchanged during the party primary in APC, his former party and added that the forms were too exorbitant.
Even PDP lawmakers such as Nnenna Ukeje (Abia, PDP), Sergius Ogun (Edo, PDP) and some other lawmakers expressed displeasure over the conduct of the primary elections of their own party. However, they hailed the embittered APC lawmaker as he spoke on his own case shouting: “fire on, fire on�.
The final heat came from Prof. Mojeed Alabi (Osun, APC) a professor of political science, who stated that the conduct of the APC primary was faulty and added that political parties by their formation and orientation are oligarchic in nature.
The post Reps To Probe Allegations Of Irregularities In Party Primaries appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Reps To Probe Allegations Of Irregularities In Party Primaries
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