By Chris Udochukwu
Abuja (Precise Post) – There are clear indications that the new electoral bill would be signed into law in the next few weeks as the leadership of the National Assembly has also promised to revisit the bill once they resume on January 18 (Tuesday).
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed readiness to sign the bill if the contentious direct primary clause was removed, while on the other hand, the leadership of the National Assembly has also promised to revisit the bill once they resume on January 18.
The President made this commitment during his interview with Channels Television on January 5, 2022.
Asked if he would sign the bill if the mandatory direct primary clause was removed, Buhari said, “All I said was that there should be options. We must not insist that it should be direct (primary); there should also be consensus and indirect (primary options) and if they do that, I will sign. I will sign. All I would like is that there should be options. Allow them (political parties) to have other options.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, had also promised that the National Assembly would consider removing the clause but that if the majority of the lawmakers did not agree for it to be removed, the process prescribed by the constitution would be adopted, which is a veiled reference to the National Assembly voting to override the President’s veto.
Speaking in Lagos while inaugurating some projects in his Surulere constituency on December 30, Gbajabiamila said, “If you follow the history of the amendment of the direct and indirect primary bill, I initiated that amendment bill for a good reason and it was for people to participate in elections. These are the people you see around when you campaign every four years.
“For me, it does not make sense that these people do not have a voice in who represents them. It is part of being used and I didn’t like that. Most of us are reformers and one of the ways to reform the system is to make it more accountable and to make the people have a voice in who represents them as opposed to a few people sitting in the four corners of a wall and writing results.
“There is a process; when we come back from recess, as I said, the House will look at those amendments. We will sit as the National Assembly, look at the reasons and at that point, consider removing that clause and pass the bill so that we do not throw the baby out with the bath water.
“But then, it is not my decision to make. It is the decision of the National Assembly; if they determine that the reasons are not good enough, then, there is a process prescribed by the constitution.”
Similarly, the Senate President in his New Year message on January 1 said, “We believe that sustainable democratic governance requires a transparent and credible electoral process. Following the decision of President Buhari to withhold assent to the bill, we shall make further consultations on the issues on our resumption of plenary in January.
“We shall find a way forward on this critical legislation in the new year. We are determined to deliver an Electoral Act that stands the test of time in safeguarding democracy and the electoral process in Nigeria.”
In 2018, the amendments to the Electoral Act to improve the electoral process did not succeed because the President rejected the bill four times.
The fourth time the President rejected the bill was in December 2018. He said the general elections were too close and that signing the bill into law could cause confusion and disruption of the polls. He, however, gave a proviso that unless the lawmakers would specify that the amendments would take effect after the 2019 polls, an option the lawmakers rejected.
Notably, with the amendments not signed into law, the INEC chairman lamented that the primaries conducted by the political parties ahead of the 2019 elections were some of the most “acrimonious” primaries in the country’s recent history.
To avoid putting INEC under avoidable pressure or giving room for the amendments to fail, a coalition of civil society organisations on Monday called on the National Assembly to make the Electoral Bill a priority when they resume on January 18. They asked the lawmakers to deal with the issue within 48 hours.
The CSOs, in a communiqué signed by the Executive Director, Adopt A Goal Initiative, Ariyo-Dare Atoye; Convener, Raising New Voices Initiative, Jude Feranmi; Convener, Human Rights Advocate, Rachel Anyanwu and Godbless Obuture, Convener, Ready To Lead Africa, said whether the lawmakers would override the President’s veto or accede to the wishes of the President, the bill must be a priority.
The communiqué partly read, “Under no circumstance should the January 18 resumption date set by the leadership of both chambers for members of the Senate and House of Reps be postponed.
Any further delay will put in jeopardy our efforts to ensure the passage of this bill.
“Cross-referencing errors which may cause issues in the interpretation of the law and the execution of the law by agencies should be corrected before passage or transmission to the President.
“These errors have been identified by civil society organisations and have been shared with the leadership of the National Assembly. They pose another obstacle to the passage of this bill. We must not forget that errors like these were one of the reasons that President Buhari gave in the eighth National Assembly for refusing assent to the bill.”
