Automatic Tickets for Undeserving Lawmakers

President Bola Tinubu’s promise to support automatic tickets to the members of the National Assembly has again exposed the undemocratic nature of Nigeria’s democracy.

Tinubu, who made the statement at the State House during an interfaith breaking of fast with the lawmakers, said the motive was to reduce the high turnover of the members in the upcoming elections.

 The president, who acknowledged that some constituencies rotate members of the National Assembly, however promised to “do everything within the party’s powers” for the current set to continue, in 2027.

“I will do everything within our party’s power. In several constituencies, there are rotational arrangements. I wish that everyone would return,” he said.

With the president’s promise, it was not a surprise that the All Progressives Congress (APC)–led National Assembly inserted direct primaries in the Electoral Act 2026 where candidates would emerge through consensus arrangements.

The move to grant automatic tickets to National Assembly members is seen as part of the efforts to stop independent-minded candidates from emerging, otherwise why should lawmakers not be allowed to go back to their constituencies to test their popularity and acceptability in a free and fair primary election?

The concept of automatic tickets is a fraudulent and anti-democratic concept that imposes candidates on political parties and the masses.

Already, the president’s comment is said to be generating unease within the APC. It was learnt that some APC governors are opposed to automatic ticket plan and may have concluded plans to frustrate the arrangement.

Recently, the ruling APC used consensus to return all its leadership penultimate week, thereby shutting  out other aspirants.

Though the law will say that the decision is an internal affair of the party, but the questions are: Where are the tenets of democracy in all of these? What happens to the rotational arrangements adopted by some communities to avoid the marginalisation of any section and prevent domination by the majority? Why should lawmakers who did not represent the interests of their people well be given automatic tickets by any political party?