Sikirat Shehu
Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has warned that the debate generated by the issue of direct primary for political parties by the National Assembly must not be allowed to scuttle the passage of the amended Electoral Bill.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Bill for Nigerians to benefit from its other parts, saying that it is the important thing that the president can do for now.
The former Senate president who spoke at the ninth memorial prayer for his father, Dr. Olusola Saraki, at the family’s Ilofa road residence, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State stated further that “Direct primary is best for political parties, if properly done. But I am sure Nigerians are not prepared for it because there is still a lot of work to be done. Now that the National Assembly has passed it, we should make the best out of the situation, rather than allowing the controversy on one item to throw away the other good parts of the bill.”
On the performance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the recent Anambra State governorship election where the party came second, Saraki noted that the exercise was a success for Nigeria and democracy.
“The Anambra election was a success story for Nigeria because many of us were sceptical that it would hold. But it not only held, it was peaceful and credible. We commend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for bringing in technology, which we have advocated to improve our electoral process.
“There is still some work to be done, no doubt; but we can improve on that for the next election to be better. People can now say we are having elections closer to (global) best practices. That election was a good day for democracy and Nigeria and we thank the security agencies also,” he added.
