This proposal is good. It mirrors the delegate system after the election happened at ward level. It will reduce logistics and other associated cost for INEC and party. INEC credibility improves.
Election friction transferred to the gladiators, delegates are the king and you may need more USD to please them. Election credibility marred by vote buying.
I think we should try it. With proper guardrails, it can be better than current system.
Running 3-4 separate elections nationally every 4 years is too expensive for Nigeria. I think we need a cheaper way to get representation without cutting people out.
My pretty rough idea of what I expect it to look like:
- One national election. Nigerians vote once for councillors in their ward. Those councillors form the LGA parliament and elect the LGA chairman from among themselves. No need for separate candidates for LGA Chairman.
- The state House of Assembly is elected by the full pool of councillors in that state. Once elected, the state HoA members choose the governor from among themselves. The National Assembly and President are elected the same way by HoA members across all states.
- Once you move up, you resign your lower seat. Either the party fills the vacancy, or we hold a by-election for that ward/LGA. One person canโt hold seats in more than one tier of government.
- If you want to be a LG chairman, governor, or president, member of state or national house of assembly, you must first win as a councillor. That ensures only people whoโve proven themselves locally get a shot at higher office.
- The trade-off is that the public only votes directly for councillors. After that, itโs indirect election. Some will call that โless democraticโ, and I think thatโs a fair point. It probably means godfatherism will become a bigger problem.
P.S. Purely academic exercise. I thought of Nigerian politics. First in a while.