Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State, Malam Garba
Attahiru-Madami has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has nothing to do with primary elections of political parties.
Attahiru-Madami made this known on Thursday in a statement made
available to journalists in Ilorin.
He said that contrary to the opinion of many politicians in the state,
it was not the duty of INEC to conduct primary elections of political
parties.
The REC was reacting to a radio programme on Harmony FM where a
politician complained that there was no primary election of Moro/Edu
Federal constituency, and called on the REC to ensure justice,
fairness, and equity for all political parties.
“It is rather unfortunate that politicians that are supposed to know
about the conduct of primary election did not know.
“INEC has nothing to do with primary elections of political parties,
political parties handle their primaries, and it is their show.
“They can do it the way they like, our own is to monitor the process
and write our reports.
“If any member of any political party is not satisfied with what was
done, he or she is free to go to court.
“It is when they go to court that the judge will ask for INEC’s report
that observed and monitored that election, that is where we will come
in to produce the report we wrote on that particular primary.
“INEC’s duty is to observe the primary and write a report of what we
saw during the primary.
“Most of the politicians and political parties are ignorant of that.
The primary election is their own jurisdiction, they are the one
empowered to conduct their primaries,” the REC added.
Attahiru-Madami said that the primary elections of political parties
INEC officials monitored went well, adding that there were pockets of
problems, but the parties resolved them.
He reiterated his determination to ensure that the 2023 elections are
free, fair, and credible.
