A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kaduna State, Ibrahim Muhammad, has appealed to the party leadership not to attempt to alter the already established primary election process in the state.
In a statement issued on Friday in Kaduna, he explained that the matter deserved careful attention, saying that the process of selecting a party’s candidate is central to internal democracy, fairness and the confidence of party members.
Some members of the party are calling for a primary election to select the governorship candidate, alleging that no consensus arrangement was reached to produce a candidate to contest the 2027 election in the state.
According to Muhammad, “Where a primary-election procedure has already been established and communicated, any attempt to change it should be undertaken strictly in accordance with the NDC Constitution, applicable electoral law, the party’s approved guidelines and INEC regulations. INEC’s current regulations specifically provide procedures for changing the type of primary already submitted to the Commission, including the requirement to notify INEC and state reasons for the proposed change.”
He stated that any unilateral attempt to replace or substantially alter the Kaduna primary process without the required constitutional authority, consultation and regulatory compliance could raise serious questions of legality and internal democracy.
Muhammad averred that the appeal was for fairness, transparency and respect for established democratic procedures, pointing out that every aspirant and every member deserved confidence that the process would not be changed in a manner that unfairly affected participation or the outcome.
He also appealed to Henry Seriake Dickson, Mr Peter Obi, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the Kaduna State leadership and all NDC stakeholders to carefully examine the matter and ensure that no action was taken outside the party’s constitutional framework and the applicable requirements of INEC.
“Kaduna State is too important to the political development of the NDC for an avoidable internal dispute to undermine the confidence of its members and supporters. A transparent and lawful primary process will strengthen the party, regardless of which aspirant ultimately emerges,” he said.