Ikechukwu Maximus Ugwuoke, frontline Candidate for the National Welfare Secretary of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has advocated for the scrapping of delegate system of selecting candidates for the general election by political parties in Nigeria.
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This is contained in his commendation message to the Abuja Branch of the NBA on their Law week which held from 3rd to 7th June 2022.
Speaking on the theme of the branch bar law week tagged “ Credible Electoral Process, Rule of Law, Leadership and Good Governance: The Way Forward,” Ugwuoke maintained that there is no better time to discuss this topic than this period of electioneering in both the NBA and the General election. According to him
“Our recent experience as a nation has shown that the delegate system of electing party candidates is the bane of Nigerian democracy.
Trusting the fate of millions of Nigerians on the hands of a few delegates who mortgage their conscience to money bags and foist on the electorates the product of their choice is not the way to go. When party delegates had produced the bad and the ugly from the various political parties the electorates are faced with no option that than choose their leaders from the result of the irresponsible choice of the delegates.
It is time to scrap the delegate system of electing candidates for political parties in Nigeria. Direct primary elections should be adopted by political parties in Nigeria just as there is the need to open up the political space for independent candidates.
This will not only eschew corruption in the system but also set the roadmap for the emergence of a pool of credible candidates from where the Nigerian electorates can draw their leaders.
I commend the NBA Abuja Branch Chairman, Moses A. Ebute, SAN, the Executives, the Planning Committee and members of the Branch for their efforts in steering the bar and setting the stage for the discourse of the topical issues of election and good governance in Nigeria which are of common concern to all.”
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