A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Buba Galadima, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of using the Electoral Act to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at the NDC aspirants’ summit in Abuja on Saturday, Galadima alleged that key provisions in the Electoral Act 2026 were deliberately designed to frustrate rival political parties and consolidate the ruling party’s grip on power.
The elder statesman claimed that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had undermined democratic principles and secretly prepared the framework of the electoral legislation before it was formally presented to the National Assembly.
“By the time the National Assembly deliberated and finalised on the draft electoral bill, within an hour, the president was signing the bill,” Galadima said.
“Did he study that bill? So, it means they had already prepared a bill before him.”
Galadima criticised provisions relating to the emergence of party candidates, arguing that the law intentionally restricted political parties to either consensus arrangements or direct primaries.
“What were the contents of that bill? One of them which concerns this summit is that you can only generate candidates through two ways through consensus or through direct primaries,” he stated.
According to him, the APC believed opposition parties would struggle to agree on consensus candidates, thereby forcing them into conducting direct primaries.
“And if they can’t come to a consensus, the only option open to them is to go and do direct primaries. I want to say, without fear of being contradicted, that no political party in the opposition can do direct primaries and come out completely clean,” he added.
Galadima warned the NDC against adopting direct primaries ahead of the 2027 elections, insisting the process could easily be disrupted by political opponents.
“The party cannot afford to do primaries because they will send people to disrupt everything and we end up without a candidate,” he said.
He urged party members and aspirants to embrace consensus arrangements and support candidates chosen by party elders and stakeholders.
According to him, unity within the opposition remains essential if the NDC hopes to challenge the APC in the next general election.
“As I speak to you now, NDC is the strongest political platform that can successfully challenge the APC and root it out of government,” Galadima added.
