Ahead of 2027 general elections, indications have emerged that the Senate will amend the 2022 Electoral Act to allow statutory delegates to vote in political party primaries.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio disclosed that statutory delegates will be reinstated in political party primaries through an amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday -earlier today, March 17 – while hosting the national leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Senate president described the omission of statutory delegates in the last electoral cycle as a costly mistake that must be corrected.
He explained: “There were defects in the last Electoral Act that was amended. So, we want to cure some of the defects that we found in our electoral system.
“One major issue was that, without any particular intention of the Parliament, we inadvertently created what I may call super-delegates in the 2023 elections and 2022 primaries.”
Akpabio said the exclusion of statutory delegates—such as the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, lawmakers, and local government chairpersons—undermined the democratic process.
He added: “These are areas we need to review to make our democracy more participatory because democracy is all about numbers.
“At the national level, the omission meant that only about 2,380 delegates participated in selecting the presidential candidates, instead of a much larger number.”
The Senate President also hinted that the planned amendment would address the powers granted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in determining party candidates.
“At the time, it seemed as though INEC was the final arbiter in deciding who could be a candidate, rather than the political parties.
“I strongly believe that political parties should have the power to select candidates who best represent their manifesto, have the integrity to serve, and a track record of performance to deliver the dividends of democracy,” he said.
On legal reforms, Akpabio urged the NBA to rid the profession of impostors, noting that some senior lawyers were never officially called to the bar.
In response, NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN) called on the National Assembly to use the ongoing constitutional amendment process to reform the justice sector.
He recalled an incident from the early 1990s when he exposed a fake lawyer at the Igbosere Magistrate Court in Lagos, who had actually studied History at the University of Calabar, rather than Law.
“We must take decisive steps to maintain the integrity of the legal profession,” Osigwe emphasised.
