Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced that the 2022 Electoral Act will be amended to include statutory delegates in political party primaries for the 2027 elections, correcting what he called a significant oversight.
He made this statement during a meeting with the Nigerian Bar Association, also urging them to combat unqualified legal practitioners.
Akpabio explained that the current law created “super-delegates” by excluding key political figures from delegate participation in the 2023 elections and 2022 primaries.
The senate president said, “There were defects in the last Electoral Act that was amended. So, we want to cure some of the defects that we found in our electoral system. I can tell you one.
“Without any particular intention of the Parliament, in the 2023 elections and the 2022 primaries, we inadvertently, created what I may call super-delegates.”
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Akpabio elaborated that the exclusion of statutory delegates meant that only ad hoc delegates were able to vote in the primaries, effectively barring many important political figures from participating.
He argued that this restricted the democratic process and caused an uneven playing field in the selection of candidates for legislative, gubernatorial, and presidential elections.
“Because all the statutory delegates, starting from the President, the Vice President, the Governors, Deputy Governors, the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, members of Parliament, National, Sub-National, Chairman of Councils, and all, were omitted as delegates.
“These are areas that we think we can look at to make our democracy more participatory. Because democracy is all about numbers.
“We ended up at a national level bringing out the President, we had about 2,380 because we had 3,000 people in each of the local government areas, was omitted from the amendment it meant that all others unless you contested to be an ad hoc delegate you are not welcome at the primaries to select flag bearers of the legislative houses governorship and then of course flag bearer of the presidential conventions in all the political parties across the country,” Akpabio stated.
Akpabio also voiced concerns regarding INEC’s role in candidate selection, asserting that political parties should retain the sole authority to choose their candidates.
He believes parties should select individuals whose values align with their manifestos, who demonstrate integrity, and who have a history of effective public service.
He said, “We shall also look at the powers that we gave to INEC because at the time it looked as if INEC was the last arbiter as to who decides who is a candidate and not the political parties, so we now have to look up to INEC to decide whether to take the name or not to take the name and I believe strongly that the political parties should have the power to select its candidates that will best serve its manifestos and has the integrity to represent its people and has a track record of performance to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people so these are areas that we are looking at in the electoral act.”
Akpabio also called on the NBA to tackle the issue of unqualified individuals practicing law in Nigeria, including those among senior members of the bar.
He expressed concern over practitioners who had not been properly called to the bar and urged the NBA to take stronger action to uphold the profession’s integrity.
NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN) responded by urging the National Assembly to include justice sector reforms in the current constitutional amendments.
He illustrated the problem with a personal anecdote from the 1990s, where he encountered an individual at the Igbosere Magistrate Court in Lagos who, despite having a history degree, claimed to be a lawyer.
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