He alleged that the primaries were вЂњobscenely monetisedвЂќ. So brazen and so offensive was the use of money in the process by deep pockets, leading up to its special convention at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, that one of its prominent aspirants, Mohammed Hayatu-deen withdrew from the contest. But in the instance of the presidential primaries, the PDP stands out like a sore thumb in the massive use of money. Of course, the tone for the bizarre and absurd deployment of money had earlier been set by the humongous amounts charged by the APC and PDP for nomination forms. If there were attempts to enthrone and forge political dynasties, there was widespread use of money to influence the outcome of the primaries. Mohammed, the son of former Head of State, Sani Abacha, was reported to have secured the governorship slot under the PDP in Kano. In Bauchi, for instance, two of the sons of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, were said to have secured tickets for the Senate and House of Representatives from the APC and PDP respectively. The primaries also showcased attempts by scions of prominent families to secure tickets and to forge what appears to be inchoate dynasties. On the flip side were the several parallel primaries that took place, in spite of INECвЂ™s warning that it would not recognise any primary election(s) not monitored by its staff the alleged cases of intimidation of delegates by some governors in favour of their anointed candidates the warehousing and quarantining of delegates until the last minute thereby denying other contestants access to them and the willful and deliberate shutting of some aspirants out of the process. And not a few of them gallantly accepted defeat and congratulated those who vanquished them. Not a few incumbent members of the National Assembly were defeated. While others were a paragon of electoral transparency and reflected utmost deference to the majesty of the democratic process by winners and losers, others were shambolic shell games and travesties. The conduct of senatorial and governorship primaries was a mixed grill. Matters acquired a different colouration when the stakes went a notch higher. Reports, which trended in the media, suggest clearly that the election of delegates at the ward and local government levels was largely peaceful and seamless. INEC deployed its senior staff, armed with a comprehensive checklist, to monitor the conduct of these primaries and to file their reports accordingly. The political parties, which are the pre-eminent stakeholder in the process, were charged by the commission to carry themselves with civility and in strict observance of extant laws. The salient issues to note in this election cycle are that before the commencement of the primaries, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did the needful by engaging robustly with critical stakeholders in the process, namely: the political parties, civil society, security agencies and the media. Coming hot on the heels of the issuance of the Notice of Election on Monday, February 28, 2022, which in turn followed the issuance of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the conduct of the 2023 General Elections on Saturday, February 26, it is expected that the conduct of party primaries, initially scheduled to be held between April 4 and June 3, 2022, will add hoopla and excitement to our political arena.ДЄs we have seen in the past two weeks, especially with the colorful and tasty convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the jostling and jockeying for power by the motley of presidential aspirants in the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the sundry primaries and conventions of the so-called small political parties, the political firmament has simply been agog with activity.

A home in the firmament