The recent candidate selection process (primaries) by the various political parties of Nigeria has witnessed unparalleled abuse. Across all the political parties, complaints of abuse of the process reigns. A lot of allegations of abuse point to incumbent governors who hijack party officials and distort the process to ensure that only their candidates emerge.
The crisis in the conduct of political parties primaries started from the controversy that arose from the nature of conduct of the primaries.
In contention was whether the method of primaries should be direct or indirect. In that confusion, most of the political parties adopted methods that most times seemed unclear. With INEC’s deadline for submission of list of candidates approaching closely, it is not surprising that majority of the big political parties remain embroiled in crisis with their list of candidates fluid and uncertain.