2027 Election: How to Become Political Party Delegate in Nigeria
- Delegates of political parties in Nigeria become popular during the primary election to choose a candidate to fly their party's flag
- Not every political party member is qualified to participate in a primary election as a delegate to choose a candidate to represent the party
- In this article, Legit.ng explained who a delegate is and how someone can become a delegate in a political party in Nigeria
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
FCT, Abuja - Political parties, just like every other organized association, operate and function by established rules and regulations.
Political parties conduct primaries when it is time to produce candidates for elective positions in the general elections.
Source: Twitter
These primary elections are typically for delegates to vote for candidates who will fly the flag of the party.
Who are delegates?
According to Stears, delegates are members of political parties who elect the candidates that represent the party in the general election.
There are different types of delegates for different kinds of party elections, from the ward to the national level.
Types of delegates
There are two types of delegates:
- Ad hoc delegates
- Statutory delegates
2 types of Ad-hoc delegates
1. Ward delegates: They elect the party’s candidates for the House of Representatives, Senate, and gubernatorial elections.
2. National delegates: They elect the party’s presidential candidates. These delegates are selected from each local government of the federation through a congress.
How Ad-hoc party delegates are chosen?
Political parties choose their ward delegates based on the number of wards (per local government). Currently, Nigeria has 8,821 wards [district headquarters].
Statutory delegates
Statutory delegates are past and present public office holders from the political party. These individuals have the prerogative to be automatic delegates.
They include former, current presidents, vice presidents, governors, and deputy governors, Senators, House of Representatives members, and state assembly members.
Others include political party chairmen, local government chairs, their deputies, and ward councilors.
How to become a political party delegate
There are nine steps to becoming a delegate in a political party in Nigeria.
- Join a political party in Nigeria.
- Register with the party by purchasing a registration form.
- Submit the required documents.
- Pay the registration fee at the party’s ward secretariat.
- Collect the party membership card.
- Build popularity in the ward.
- Cultivate grassroots support from members in your ward.
- Indicate interest in being a delegate at the ward congress.
- Win the election to be a delegate from the ward.
Source: Twitter
State-by-state breakdown of APC delegates
Recall that a state-by-state breakdown of the All Progressives Congress (APC) delegates in Nigeria was obtained and released by Joe Igbokwe, a chieftain of the ruling party, on Friday, May 20, 2022.
As seen in the breakdown, the total number of delegates in all the states is 7810. The top five states with the highest number of delegates are Kano, Katsina, Borno, Osun, and Lagos.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has the lowest number of delegates: 53 in all.
Ignore fraudulent delegates’ list from Cross River
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the list of the national delegates sent by the Cross Rivers State Working Committee should be ignored, according to APC stakeholders.
According to them, the list is fraudulent and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party must ignore it.
Specifically, they urged the national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC, to follow its constitution and guidelines.
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Source: Legit.ng
