Undemocratic Primary Elections Within Political Parties

With allegations of candidate imposition and widespread electoral malpractices that marked the recent primary elections held by Nigeria’s leading political parties, Ejiofor Alike questions what moral ground parties have to criticize general and off‑season elections run by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The results of the recent primaries show that party‑run elections do not offer greater transparency, fairness or credibility than those conducted by INEC.

Like the general and off‑season elections, the primaries were widely condemned for the same widespread malpractices that plagued the exercise in several states.

All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Labour Party (LP) were accused of imposing candidates, disenfranchising bona‑fide party members and engaging in other electoral irregularities during their primaries.

Videos circulated on social media showed parties mocking democracy by fraudulently counting people in queues, using “Option A4.” Voters were tallied as 1, 10, 50, 100, 300, etc., instead of following the numerical sequence 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and so on.

Field reports indicated that in many locations no election actually took place, yet votes were allegedly allocated to aspirants at the discretion of party leaders or state governments.

In Bauchi State, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and APC governorship aspirant Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar accused the ruling party of imposing a candidate. Tuggar said that while he and other aspirants expected a transparent, free and fair primary, the party had already decided on an anointed candidate.

“We wanted an election where whoever won would emerge, and whoever lost would accept the outcome,” Tuggar said. “But the National Chairman of our party called us and announced that MA Abubakar had been selected as the governorship candidate.”

Similarly, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Prof. Isa Pantami withdrew from the APC governorship primary in Gombe State, citing an alleged violation of the Electoral Act 2026 by the APC. Pantami also claimed that no election took place in the state’s National Assembly primaries and that candidates were imposed.

“During the National Assembly primaries, no actual election took place in the state. According to the testimony of several aspirants, relevant details on venues, procedures, and agent and observer accreditation were not provided, but results were announced,” Pantami explained.

“If two former senior members of Buhari and Tinubu’s cabinets could be treated shabbily in such a brazen manner and candidates hand‑picked by the ruling party without any election in Bauchi and Gombe states, one can imagine what could have happened to ordinary aspirants in other states,” said an unnamed political analyst.

In the ADC, former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant Rotimi Amaechi rejected the party’s presidential primary results, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and malpractice. Amaechi said the results were “concocted.”

These accusations mirror the same electoral offences that parties and civil society organisations (CSOs) level against INEC in general and off‑season elections.

APC Senator Ned Nwoko of Delta North also rejected the party’s official results, insisting that he won the primary by a landslide. Nwoko claimed he secured about 123,000 votes, compared with the 6,000 votes he said were recorded for former Delta State Governor Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

In the APC’s official tally, announced by Returning Officer Johnbull Tonukari, Okowa was declared the winner with 113,309 votes. Tonukari, a professor, said Nwoko received 2,612 votes, while Maryam Ali polled 40.

Nwoko rejected the figures, stating he won in 97 of the 98 wards in the senatorial district and presented video evidence from across the district. “Are authenticated video recordings from 98 wards not more credible than figures allegedly concocted by a panel appointed by the governor who is openly working for Okowa?” he asked.

Even the opposition NDC, which claims to be on a rescue mission, faced accusations of malpractices in its primaries. FCT senatorial aspirant Aisha Yesufu alleged that the FCT primary was heavily subverted, describing it as a “predetermined outcome dressed in procedural formalities.” She said the party leadership repeatedly violated its own guidelines, postponed the exercise without justification, and shifted venues at the last minute to alienate ordinary members.

Yesufu said the delegate‑based process was introduced to be conducted at a central location instead of the direct primaries at local government headquarters. “When the moment came, the contest was not decided by delegates in the open; it was affirmed in a closed room, away from the people whose voices it was supposed to reflect,” she said.

In Imo State, some NDC aspirants alleged that the party’s national and state assembly primaries were manipulated, accusing the electoral panel led by Chief Babatunde Ali of failing to conduct a credible exercise and producing results outside the approved procedure. These allegations were presented in a petition read during a press briefing in Abuja by former House of Representatives member Dr. Uche Nwole, who represented Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency between 1999 and 2003.

In Kebbi State, NDC governorship candidate Hon. Faruk Umar Besse accused the state chairman of compromising the party primaries. Addressing journalists during a media parley in his Abuja office, Faruk said the state chairman had compromised the process, prompting the petition submitted to the party headquarters.

Allegations of candidate imposition, massive irregularities and other malpractices also surrounded the PDP and LP primaries.

The shameful conduct of the primaries by political parties has validated claims in some quarters that politicians and parties are largely responsible for the electoral frauds witnessed in INEC‑run elections.

Thus, if parties cannot conduct free, fair and transparent primaries within their own ranks, what moral justification do they have for demanding accountability from the commission during general and off‑season elections?