Finally, Buhari to sign Electoral Act Amendment Bill Friday – Presidency sources

 

JONAS EZIEKE, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to sign the long-awaited Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021, on Friday.

Authoritative presidency sources confirmed that the President would be signing the bill into law around 12pm on the day.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Assembly transmitted the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 to the president on Jan. 31, a second time, having reportedly revised the bill, which he withheld his assent to for some noted reasons.

Sources close to the office of the president revealed that arrangements had been finalised for the president to sign the amendment bill into law on Friday, finally putting all anxieties to rest.

The source, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said “all these anxieties will disappear by Friday afternoon.

”He will be signing the bill around noon of that day.

“I believe he has taken his time so that the Act can be as unassailable as much as possible.”

The president had withheld his assent to the bill in November 2021, citing the cost of conducting direct primary elections and security challenges as part of the reasons for his decision.

Another reason is possible manipulation of electoral processes by political players.

Reacting to the Electoral Act, the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has described as unnecessary the worries expressed by some Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari was delaying his assent to the amended Electoral Act as passed by the National Assembly.

The amended Electoral Act is already before the President waiting for his assent before it becomes operational and a legal framework.

Addressing the media in his office on Wednesday,  February 23, 2022, the Governor said the hullabaloo over the shift on the date from Wednesday (February 23, 2022) to Friday (February 25, 2022) for the signing of the amended Electoral Act was uncalled for and the anxiety unnecessary “as President Buhari has ample time within the constitutional provision to assent the amended document into law.”

Governor Uzodimma said: “To give Nigerians the best, the President has to study the Amended Act before signing it into law, and if in the process he discovers things in the Act that are not in the interest of the people of Nigeria he has the constitutional mandate to move it back to the National Assembly for corrections before his assent.

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has expressly defined the processes a Bill or an Act must undergo before the President will consider it for assent and to the best of my knowledge as a Parliamentarian none of those processes has been violated by Mr. President.

“The President should be allowed to do his job without being put under unnecessary pressure, particularly the worries and anxiety expressed by some Nigerians, especially through the media.”

Governor Uzodimma also explained that the Friday, February 25, 2022 date should not also be seen to be sacrosanct, because the 30 days window from the time the amended Act was returned to the President still subsists.

The Governor further explained that “even at that, if the President has observed anything that is not in the interest of the people he has the constitutional right to still send it back to the National Assembly for corrections to be effected.”

Governor Uzodimma’s words: “The President, having been elected by Nigerians, is the only person in a better position to reason out what will benefit the people, most especially as it concerns Security of the entire Nation.”

Governor Uzodimma therefore advised Nigerians who are worried to understand that “there are very many other issues that call for attention of both the President and the National Assembly,  what is before the President is an Amended Electoral Act and at the appropriate time the President will Assent to it.”

Commenting on the rescheduled All Progressives Congress (APC) Convention, the Governor said there is nothing to worry about.

He also gave reasons.

“The leadership of the Party is strong, the membership of the Party is also strong and hopefully by March 26, 2022 a new leadership that will be acceptable to all will emerge in APC by consensus.”

He said the APC is being careful not to be harassed into doing things that will not be in the overall interest of the Party.

He noted, for instance, that the APC has the history of all her past National Chairmen emerging through consensus, insisting that “there will be nothing wrong for the Party at the end of the day to have its National Chairman emerge through consensus.”

On the issue of the APC zoning the President of Nigeria, the Governor categorically said his Party is being  careful because “our interest is first to have a cohesive and united Nigeria that will take care of every Nigerian irrespective of tribe, greed or religion.”

“Therefore, while considering zoning as very important, the party will be looking at it as a family business,” Governor Uzodimma maintained.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Wednesday received the report of its Special Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution constituted by the House to properly review some of the key issues in the Constitution (as amended).

The green chamber equally admitted into its plenary for the first time in this 9th Assembly of the House the First Lady, Dr.Mrs Aisha Buhari, who came in to observe the laying of the constitution review report and to give her support to some of the proposals in the document

Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who received the First Lady into the chambers midway into the House sitting at about 12 30 pm, said that she was in the parliament to give her support to the womenfolk in the constitution amendment process.

Immediately after welcoming the august visitor, the Deputy Speaker, Hon.Idris Wase, laid the report of the Special Ad-hoc Committee highlighted some of the key issues in the amendment of the nation’s Constitution.

Wase, who also is the co-chair of the Special Ad-hoc Committee, said that the process of the Constitution review undertaken by both chambers of the apex legislature was rigorous, painstaking and thorough.

While laying the report, he highlighted some of the key issues in the Constitution amendment process to include the jurisdiction of federal and state governments in matters like aviation, revenue allocation, basic education, immigration, population census and citizenship, among others.

Some of the clauses to be voted for or against by the lawmakers at plenary are to approve the removal of some of the contentious issues from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative in the legal document.

Speaking on the amendments at a press briefing, spokesman of the House, Hon.Bejamamin Kalu, said that the Special Adhoc Committee on Review of the Constitution has done a good job by giving Nigerians a good working document

He noted that there was never a time that the National Assembly went deep into the amendment of the 1999 Constitution than the current National Assembly.

Other issues he said were captured in the Constitution review include inclusion of special seats for women in parliament at federal and state levels, independent candidacy for elective offices, immunity for presiding officers in both the legislative and judicial arms of government

Moreover the parliament had streamlined the retirement age for judges at the federal and state levels and has introduced a unified pension scheme for all federal and state judicial officers.

Others are the provision for a state of the nation address by the President to parliament and submission of list of Ministers and Commissioners in less than 30 days to the legislature by the President or Governor after inauguration.

Most importantly, he said that the present review of the nation’s supreme law has recognized Diaspora voting through which Nigeria citizens in foreign countries can participate in voting during elections in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the Speaker of the House, Hon. Gbajabiamila, had earlier announced that the House would vote on the clauses in the Constitution review on Thurday, March 3, 2022 during plenary.