16 DAYS TO GO: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY READY TO VETO NEW ELECTORAL LAW AMENDMENTS IF BUHARI REFUSES TO SIGN

Sixteen days to the expiration of the timeline for President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, some members of the National Assembly (NASS) have vowed to veto the president if he declines signing the bill.

Also, some civil society organisations (CSOs) have regrouped to pressure the president into signing the Electoral bill.

LEADERSHIP reports that President Buhari has only 16 days to sign the electoral bill into law.

This paper had earlier reported that some influential Nigerians had been pressuring the president not to sign the bill because they did not want electronic voting/transmission of results and direct primaries to be conducted by political parties – two very contentious provisions in the bill, but which most Nigerians say will improve the country’s democracy if they become part of the electoral law.

Even though Senate spokesman, Ajibola Basiru, declined comment on the issue yesterday, a senator told LEADERSHIP that they had met and resolved that if the president declines to sign the bill, they would overrule him.

“We have already met on this issue. If the president does not sign the bill, we will veto it. The 2021 Electoral Act Amendment Bill is something Nigerians believe will improve the electoral system.

“So, for the interest of Nigerians and the electoral process, if the president did not sign the bill, we would veto his assent,” the lawmaker said.

Elumelu who stated this during an interaction with journalists at the National Assembly, said the electoral act amendment bill is a product of Nigerians and reflects largely things that will improve the electoral system.

Some civil society associations (CSOs), which include Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Citizens with Disability (CCD), Albino Foundation, CLEEN Foundation, Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) are also asking the president to sign the bill on time.

Speaking on the imperative of timely assent to the Electoral Bill 2021 at a press conference yesterday, the executive director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said for a successful conduct of any election, the legal framework, amongst other factors, must be considered. He urged President Buhari to sign the bill into law.

The CSOs said the input from the chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu; attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami; minister of the interior, Rauf Aregbesola; minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, and that of the Inspector General of the Police, Baba Alkali, are needed for the president to sign the bill, but that they must be guided by public interest.

“The presidency on 19th November, 2021, acknowledged the receipt of the Electoral Bill 2021 from the National Assembly for presidential assent. The bill contains specific provisions that are directed at enhancing the quality and credibility of elections and address certain lacunas in the existing electoral legal framework.

“Such provisions in the Bill include: legal backing for the use of electoral technologies for the purpose of voter accreditation and electronic transmission of election results; extension of restrictive timelines for electoral activities, concise definition of over-voting and the conferment of legal authority on INEC to review questionable election results.”

The CSOs welcomed the decision of the president to seek the views ministries, departments and agencies of government on the Bill.

“In this regard, the input from INEC chairman, attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, minister of the interior, minister of finance and the inspector general of the police are probably the most crucial.

“In their consideration of the bill, these office holders should be guided by the overriding public interest to strengthen our electoral process and the consolidation of our democracy.

“It is our firm belief that the Bill in its current state will not only encourage increased citizens’ participation in the electoral process, but it will also further enhance the capacity of the democratic institutions to improve the transparency and legitimacy of electoral outcomes. Furthermore, the timely assent to the Electoral Bill 2021 will facilitate early preparations and efficient election administration of the 2023 general election, which is just 443 days away.

“It must be emphasized that the successful conduct of any election is predicated on the certainty and clarity of the election legal framework, amongst other factors. This is to preclude any legal uncertainties that may occasion the manipulation and subversion of the electoral process. It is for this reason that the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Good Governance and the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance requires that any amendment to the electoral legal framework must be concluded at least six months to the date of election,” the CSOs said.

“The President should timeously assent to the Electoral Bill 2021 which is in congruence with the will and aspirations of the Nigerian people,” they said.

They told the president that this his opportunity to honour his commitment to bequeath to Nigerians an electoral system that guarantees the conduct of credible, inclusive and peaceful elections.

“Further amendments to the Electoral Bill 2021 by the National Assembly should be undertaken in the next electoral cycle based on real and perceived lacuna identified in the implementation of the current Bill,” the group added.

Also speaking to LEADERSHIP yesterday, the executive director, Centre for Citizens with Disability (CCD), David Anyele, called on the National Assembly to veto the president if he does not sign the bill.

“The environment has changed. Even the sociopolitical situation in this country has changed. There is demand for the citizens to take hold of their country and be patriotic.

“What the National Assembly has done is to speak to the yearnings and the aspiration of Nigerians. They have sent the bill to the president. If the president listens to people close to him and refuses to sign the bill fast, the National Assembly should redeem their image and reputation and veto the president.

“This is not the first time it has been done. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was created as a result of vetoing the president. Therefore, it is constitutional; it is their prerogative to veto the president so that Nigerians can take ownership of the country, so that Nigeria can have trust in the framework that leads to the selection of political leaders,” Anyele said.

Some lawyers who spoke to LEADERSHIP said the powers given to the president are not absolute.

Barrister Paul Omoluabi said, ”Pursuant to Sections 58 (4) and 59 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, “the veto power granted to the president is not absolute, in the essence that it can be overridden by two-thirds of members of the National Assembly.

”In the instant issue, the difficulty in overriding the president’s veto power by the National Assembly is usually in having two-third members of the National Assembly to pass the bill into law after the president has vetoed the bill.

”If the National Assembly is determined to pass the Bill into an Act, it will only take intensive lobbying and the veto power of the president will be rendered otiose.

”The constitution is very clear on this issue and I expect the National Assembly to do the needful irrespective the decision the president may take.”

A senior advocate, Abdul Balogun, buttressed the views of Barrister Omoluabi.

According to him, the National Assembly can veto it and pass the bill into law.

He said the makers of the law knew what they were doing when they gave the National Assembly the power to veto the bill in a situation where the president declines assent.

Meanwhile, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has accused the current National Assembly of lacking the courage to overrule President Buhari if he refuses to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

Wike, who stated this yesterday in a live television programme monitored in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said none of the lawmakers can start the process of vetoing the president on the bill.

Wike said: “You know that the president will not sign that thing. He will not sign and I am very sure of that. If you understand the system as someone who has been in the system, you will know that the president will not sign it.

“Which veto? Who will start it? Who is that person that will start it? Who has that courage? Which chamber – House of Representatives or the Senate? I can tell you the problem we have in this country. If you criticise the legislature, they take it personal; if you criticize the Judiciary, they take it personal and if you criticize the Executive, they take it personal.

“You and I know that nobody has the courage and capacity today to veto the president’s assent. You know it is not possible. Forget about this drama.”

Wike, who also spoke on events within his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), predicted that there would be disagreements over the choice of the part of the country that will produce its presidential candidate in 2023.

He said presidential candidates of the PDP must be someone who will be ready to confront the All Progressives Congress (APC) as he doubts the readiness of the ruling party to hand over power in 2023.

He vowed never to support any presidential aspirant that is not prepared to confront the APC.

The governor said, “The fact that the PDP national chairman came from the North and the one that just left came from the South, that does not in any way mean that we have chosen where our presidential candidate will come from. People are assuming that, that being the case, that is what will happen. That may be correct and that may not be correct.

“We will choose a candidate that is prepared to face the All Progressives Congress and their government. We are praying to God to help us, guide us to arrive at that choice. But that does not mean in arriving at this, there won’t be turbulence.

“There are two types of turbulence; the one that leads to a crash and the one that you pass through and it does not lead to a crash. Our own turbulence will not lead to a crash because we will come out of it but APC’s turbulence will lead to a crash.

“If I tell you in PDP, we won’t go through turbulence, then, I am not being fair. There will be serious disagreements but it is not the type of turbulence that we can’t come out of. The turbulence in APC is so severe that it will crash but our own turbulence is normal turbulence.”

Wike stated that although everybody had the right to aspire to run for president on the platform of the PDP, he will not support any aspirant that just wants to bear the title of former presidential candidate.

“I must see that you are prepared to confront the evil called APC because when you are fighting evil, you must be serious to fight evil. APC is a party that can do anything and can go to any length. You must be ready for this evil.”