‘Do not sign Electoral Act 2010 amendment into law,’ CNPP tells Buhari

Umbrella body of registered political platforms in the country, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), has told President Muhammadu Buhari not to sign into law the recently passed Electoral Act 2010 Amendment, also known as the Electoral Act 2021, when transmitted to him by the legislature.

The group said that by doing so, President Buhari would have indicated to Nigerians that ‘he is not part of the scheme to sabotage the country’s electoral process.’

The group further threatened court action if the President signs the Act which officially enacts it into law.

It would be recalled that senators were, last Thursday, sharply divided along party lines in their voting pattern during plenary as the Upper Chamber considered the report of the Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after presentation of its final report.

The lawmakers considered the report of the Electoral Bill, 2021 which was initiated to repeal the Electoral Act No.6, 2010 and enact the Electoral Act 2021, to regulate the conduct of Federal, State and Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory elections.

The report was read on the floor by the Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Kabiru Gaya with the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Sabi Abdullahi moving for amendments of clause 52(3).

During a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, the contentious Clause 158 which had been replaced in the new bill became a bone of contention during plenary as senators on both divide either backed or registered their disapproval over the substitution of the original contents of the bill.

The original 52(3) as contained in the report under consideration read: “The Commission may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.”

However, Senator Abdullahi moved for an amendment which read: “The Commission may consider electronic transmission of results provided that the national coverage as adjudged by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and approved by the National Assembly.”

The development threw the Red Chambers into uproar as senators either rejected the amendment outrightly or signified their approval during voting to pass the bill.

52 senators approved for electronic transmission of results on condition certified by the NCC and National Assembly, 28 against the amendment while another 28 senators were absent at Thursday’s plenary.

While over 52 senators voted that INEC may consider the electronic transmission of results provided that the national coverage as adjudged by the NCC, and approved by the National Assembly, 28 senators voted to make it mandatory for INEC to transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable, as contained in the report under consideration.

Expressing its dismay over the eventual passing of the Electoral Act 2021 by the senate, the CNNP, in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Willy Ezugwu, said the lawmakers’ decision to go against the general will of Nigerians was, however, not surprising, as noted that the legislators have now ‘made themselves the number one adversary of Nigeria’s democracy’ with their action.

According to the group, instead of working to improve the system, the National Assembly members, have become a huge impediment to deliberate efforts to gradually enhance the country’s democracy.

“The National Assembly, which is ruled by the APC, is full of members who are out to sabotage the electoral process by voting against Nigerians’ aspirations.

“All Nigerians who hoped that the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, would vote in favour of improving the country’s election process in a way that will lead to a freer, a fairer, and more credible process for the sake of good governance and the rule of law,” the statement continued.

“It is unthinkable that a Nigerian legislator would vote for the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), a federal government institution under the full supervision of the administration, to approve a statutory role of INEC.

“No political party can be in power indefinitely. As a result, it is political foolishness for a legislator to pass legislation that benefits his or her political party.

“Worse still, even when there is no crisis in their respective political organisations, we have witnessed the ruling party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) exchange members and even candidates in an election, demonstrating a lack of democratic values or ideology.

“If the President does so, we will meet in court since the amendment will not stand,” the CNPP said.

Also berating the senate over the decision to pass the Electoral Act amendment with the controversial electronic transmission of election results amended with a conditional clause, former Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, Shehu Sani said the National Assembly has now created two additional electoral bodies, apart from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the passage of the bill.

Sani said that by conferring the authoritisation of electronic transmission of election results from INEC to NCC and the National Assembly, the senators have now created three electoral bodies for the country.

“The National Assembly is made up of politicians and elected public officials. It is wrong for us to have a law where they would be involved in deciding or approving whether election results should be released or not.

“All they have done simply is that the ruling political party with dominance in the National Assembly will decide whether results should be electronically announced or not.

“Another point we need to observe is that during elections, most of the lawmakers are back to their constituencies and it is not possible at that time to have a quorum in the national assembly for the purpose of approving whether election results.

“All they are trying to do is simply to give the ruling party the opportunity to decide whether the result of election is released or not.

“It is better the country does not operate electronic transfer of results than where the NCC headed by the appointee of the President and the National Assembly headed by a politician from the ruling party dominating both chambers to decide the processes of an election. It is very wrong to have such a type,” said Sani.

Continuing, the senator said: “You can have credible elections but the person announcing the results can be compromised but when you have a system where results are automatically transmitted electronically, it is not going to be subject to anybody’s manipulation and like I have said, people need to know this very well that during elections, there is nobody in the national assembly, everyone would have left and won’t come back until after election.

“Will you now say the National Assembly should be in the chamber until the election results are sent to them to confirm. What kind of laws are these people making for our country?”