APC Primaries: Oroh Urges Electoral Reforms to Restore Public Confidence

Former House of Representatives member Hon Abdul Oroh has urged a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s electoral system, arguing that only citizens should be responsible for nominating and electing their representatives at every level of government, rather than political leaders.

According to DAILY POST, Oroh made the statement on Saturday, May 16, 2026, in the lead‑up to the nationwide All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries for the House of Representatives.

Oroh, who was a candidate in the APC primary for the Owan Federal Constituency seat, said that the problems associated with election management—especially within intra‑party primaries—are not unique to the APC.

He added that these challenges remain among the most significant obstacles facing political leadership and the electoral process across the country.

“I am a scholar on election issues. I know how elections are won and lost in Nigeria, as well as the factors that make it possible for someone to win or lose an election,” he said. “I also know the problems with election management in Nigeria, especially as it affects intra‑party elections, which are the primary elections. It is one of those issues that we need to address in the process of leadership elections, either by reviewing the legal framework or finding better ways to conduct the process. What we are seeing now is not peculiar to the APC,” he added.

Oroh claimed that aspirants often feel compelled to spend large sums of money, compromise their principles, or engage in practices they would normally avoid if the electoral process were truly free, fair, and transparent.

“There are also enormous pressures from the executives. How can the executive determine who becomes a legislator? It is the people who should choose those who will oversee the executive, but in Nigeria, it is the other way round,” he said. “These realities have complicated the process and made it difficult to have an electoral system that satisfies the majority of the people. We still need to reform the process,” he added.