Buba Galadima, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, has alleged that the Electoral Act 2026 was designed to frustrate opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Galadima made the allegation on Saturday in Abuja while speaking at the aspirants’ summit of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC.
He accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of undermining democracy in Nigeria, alleging that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had long prepared the contents of the electoral bill before it was formally presented to the National Assembly.
According to him, the speed with which the bill was passed and signed into law raised serious concerns.
“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 have already prepared a bill before him.
“What were the contents of that bill? One of them, which concerns this summit, is that you can only generate candidates through two ways. That is, through consensus or through direct primaries.”
Galadima said the provision was allegedly inserted to put opposition parties in a difficult position, especially where they are unable to reach consensus on candidates.
“Now, in the opinion of the APC and its government, they thought that the opposition will not be in a position to sit down and do consensus,” he said.
“And if they can’t do 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 warned NDC members and aspirants against adopting direct primaries, saying such a process could expose the party to disruption and litigation.
Galadima said the NDC must remain united and adopt consensus arrangements if it hopes to successfully challenge the APC in the 2027 elections.
“As I speak to you now, NDC is the strongest political platform that can successfully challenge the APC and root it out of government,” he said.
“The party cannot afford to do primaries because they will send people to disrupt everything and we end up without a candidate.
“So, it is better for us to maintain unity, to maintain loyalty to the party and to the decision of the elders of this party or the major stakeholders of all our constituencies that whoever emerges as a candidate for any constituency in this country, we will all support that person to succeed.”
Galadima urged aspirants and stakeholders to prioritise party unity, loyalty and discipline, insisting that internal cohesion would be critical to the NDC’s electoral prospects in 2027.
