President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to sign the rewritten Electoral Act Amendment Bill and may do so today if the National Assembly amends the problematic Clause 84, which infringes on the constitutional rights of a certain group of people. After assenting to the controversial component, political appointees are barred from winning elections and voting as delegates at conventions or congresses.
The president, who already met with the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly was awaiting assurances from the leadership of the National Assembly to amend the bill after signing it into law. “The President wants to put this behind us but simply wants assurances so as not to allow this to continue to be a distraction on the country. He doesn’t want other good aspects of the bill to continue to suffer.”
Also, the president is expected to meet with governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) tomorrow at the State House, Abuja, to address concerns relating to the proposed February 26 national convention of the party.
But this is not going to be before a meeting of the APC governors tonight in Abuja, where they want to take a final look at the situation and issues relating to the convention before engaging the president tomorrow, and ultimately a decision.
Buhari, last night, decided to lay the issues stalling the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to rest when he seized the initiative and met with the leadership of the National Assembly with a view to finding a middle ground and closing the deal once and for all.
The president was said to have earlier met with the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, and the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who is the Chairman of the amendment committee, deputized by Wase, on how to resolve the controversial Clause 84 of the new amendment.
According to sources, the president had only asked if they would be willing to expunge the contentious aspect after he signs the bill so that the political turf could be cleared of the electoral bill crisis. According to a source with knowledge of the ongoing conversation, the president is seeking comfort and assurances that the aspect that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nigerians would be brought in conformity to the constitution through an amendment after he has signed to avoid further delay to the take-off of the bill.”
But as at last night, THISDAY could not glean from the leadership of the National Assembly if they had agreed to the president’s proposal, but feelers from the Villa indicated that once the Buhari gets the assurance of the legislative leadership to address the grey area, he would move swiftly to sign the bill, possibly today.
There had been misgivings about the new amendment, which had also fuelled speculations on whether or not the president would sign it into law.
The latest speculation was stoked by rumors that some governors, especially, those of the ruling APC, were not comfortable with the new amendment and had planned to prevail on the president to also veto it, as he did in the last one.
This is because the harmonized version of the Electoral Bill recently passed by the legislature and considered the final agreed version by both Senate and House of Representatives, had inserted a controversial Clause 84 into the amendment bill.
The implication of Clause 84 was that all political appointees in President Buhari’s government would no longer be eligible, either as voting delegates or aspirants during the conventions or congresses of their political parties.
Also, by the provision at issue, political appointees were further barred from voting as delegates in a convention or seeking the nomination in the primaries of their political parties.
Unlike what was obtainable in the past, when most APC ministers and commissioners took leave of absence to contest their party’s primaries and later went back to their jobs after they lost, that grace was no longer available with the new proposal.
According to Clause 84 of the recommitted bill, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.
“Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in the issue.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or rules of a political party, an aspirant, who complains that any of the provisions of this Act and guidelines of a political party have not been complied with in the selection or nomination of a candidate of a political party for election, may apply to the Federal High Court for redress.
“Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election under this Act, pending the determination of a suit.”
Unfortunately, there was a lacuna in the new law, which encouraged infringements on the inalienable rights of citizens to vie for elective offices.
The Supreme Court had pronounced at different times that any law inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution is ultra vires and, to that extent, null and void.
Sources, however, believed that the clause was meant to clip the wings of the governors, who, through appointments, often controlled those who became automatic delegates and determined the outcome of congresses.
Sources further claimed that the idea was originally from the House of Representatives, pushed by a principal officer from Lagos as an agenda to serve some interests. The Senate was said to have concurred, just to keep the “one house” impression by the National Assembly.
But the fear being expressed by many was that, with a clause that clearly breached the provision of the constitution, the president might be forced to veto the electoral act amendment bill again, and that if that happened, a new electoral law might not be ready for the 2023 elections, hence the new rapprochement by the president.
Buhari had declined assent to the first amendment bill over the provision of direct primary as the only mode of choosing candidates by political parties.
The bill earlier passed by the National Assembly on November 18, 2021, provided: “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the commission.”
But Buhari, in declining assent, disclosed that he would only give assent to the bill if the lawmakers provided options for the conduct of primaries by political parties.
The president also cited several disadvantages of the provision to the system, including security and possible manipulation by incumbent officeholders, who might be seeking re-election, as well as political parties’ inability to muster funds for it.
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