Primaries: Confusion over statutory delegates as INEC insists on existing Act

 

APC, PDP, others face legal dilemma over delegates •Why Buhari may not sign amended Electoral Bill - Sources •Again, PDP adjusts dates for Reps, state assembly primaries •Alteration of election calendar would trigger constitutional crisis - Commission

National Assembly members and other statutory delegates are still unsure of their eligibility to vote in  next week’s  presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following indications last night that President Muhammadu Buhari might not sign the latest amendment to the Electoral Act 2022.

The two main parties are themselves in a quandary over the development and have been unable to provide satisfactory answers to state party officials who have been making frantic phone calls to seek clarification on the eligibility of statutory delegates

The parties and the leadership of the National Assembly have been putting pressure on the president to sign the amended Act.

If the status quo remains until the primaries, only persons elected as ad hoc delegates to the primaries  will be eligible to vote to elect the presidential candidates.

Chieftains of the parties have been holding consultations upon consultations to review the situation.

The presidential aspirants and their strategists have also been working round the clock to ensure that the situation does not damage their chances at the primaries, The Nation can now reveal.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that it cannot alter the election timetable for any reason otherwise a constitutional crisis will ensue.