By Emmanuel Aziken
LAGOS—A PROPOSAL to confer advantage to President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming party primaries through an amendment to the Electoral Act is to be presented to the House today, it was claimed yesterday.

The insertion of a clause in the Electoral Act compelling political parties to follow the same order as prescribed in the Act for the conduct of the general election in the conduct of their party primaries was being criticized as an act of desperation on the part of the Presidency.

House spokesman, Rep. Eseme Eyiboh, while rebuffing any act to confer advantage to the President last night promised to brief the press today to clarify issues. He equally asserted that such proposals were not before the committee even though he agreed that the committee tidied up its work on Tuesday night.

Committee sources told Vanguard last night that the House committee in its proposal had inserted a clause in Section 25 to the effect that all political parties in conducting their primaries should follow the same order as prescribed in the act in the conduct of the general election.

The Act prescribed that the elections should follow a specific order starting from the National Assembly, presidential and lastly Gubernatorial/House of Assembly.

No such provision was prescribed in the substantive electoral act for the conduct of party primaries as the parties were not bound on the order they are to follow in the conduct of the primaries.

The National Assembly was accused of putting its election first to give it the advantage and putting the gubernatorial elections last in order to put pressure on the Governors.
Sources in the House of Representatives told Vanguard that the ad_hoc committee led by Rep.

Sarki Ada had imprinted a clause in Section 25 of the amendment bill to be presented today.

Rep. Eyiboh while confirming that the House committee would be presenting its report today, however, denied any insertion to favour the President.

“Apart from being the spokesman of the House of Representatives I am also a member of the committee on Electoral Matters and as far as I am concerned there is no such insertion to favour any person,” Eyiboh said.

An earlier attempt by the President to amend the Electoral Act in the Senate to allow presidential aides partake in party primaries was voted out in the Senate last month.