House of Reps to reintroduce Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill Wednesday-Speaker

 

 

.As Senate promises to expedite action on legislation

Jonas Ezieke, Abuja

 

The 9th House of Representatives, despite the limitations imposed by a global pandemic, has been an unusually productive parliament, Speaker House of Representatives Hon.Femi Gbajabiamila has said.

 

Gbajabiamila also said that the House ‘ll reconsider on the next legislative day, the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill rejected assent by President Muhammadu Buhari and sent back to the National Assembly before the Chrismas and New Year reccess the House embarked upon on Tuesday December 21,2021.

 

The Speaker who spoke at the resumpion of legislative activities from the recess said that the House have taken legislative action to address longstanding challenges of governance and economics in the country.

 

He said that they had passed landmark legislation to fix our oil and gas industry, reform the police and reorganise the corporate administration system in our country.

 

He said:”We have considered and passed meaningful legislation that impacts all areas of our national life.

 

“Some of these bills are the Police Service Commission Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill, and the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act (Amendment) Bill, amongst others.

 

“Just before we adjourned in 2021, we passed a slate of bills to reform the aviation sector and clean up our airports so that these critical national assets can be properly administered to the best expectations of the Nigerian people.

 

“We have used the appropriations process and the power of parliament over the public purse to pursue community and constituency development across the country.

 

“We have invested in primary, secondary and tertiary education infrastructure. We have provided ICT training centres to facilitate learning and enhance educational outcomes”.

 

The Speaker also said that at the moment, there is virtually no constituency in the country that hasn’t benefitted from significant investment to improve primary healthcare, rehabilitate classrooms and schools and provide community roads.

 

He further told his colleagues that it is not his intention to encourage complacency or give the impression that our work here is done, adding that it is far from it.

 

I intend to remind us all of what can be achieved when dedicated public servants work with purpose and precision in the public interest.  And I want us to be inspired, in this last year of our present term in office, to work harder, work faster and achieve more than we ever did in the past.

 

While encouraging the lawmakers to brace up for the task ahead, he said that  active measures are required to change that and it is their responsibility to make sure that the people they serve have sufficient information.

 

On the electoral Act amendment Bill,he told the lawmakers that they have a lot still left to do in a very brief time.

 

“Principal amongst these priorities is the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.  First, let me express my profound gratitude to all of you for your work to pass this most critical legislation. I want to commend you all for the work done. Unfortunately, that Bill did not receive presidential assent, and it is unlikely that it will in its current form.

 

“Now, we have to choose between sticking to our guns regarding the provision to mandate direct primary elections for political parties or reworking that provision to save the rest of the Bill.

 

“Now let it be clear to all that our only objective in introducing that provision was to strengthen the foundations of our democracy so that it works for all of our nation’s people” he stated

 

 

The  Speaker said that the process by which political parties nominate candidates for election is essential, perhaps even just as important as the general election itself.

 

He argued that a primary nomination process that deprives the majority of party members of the opportunity to choose who represents them in the general elections is susceptible to bad outcomes and ought to be fixed.

 

He argued that political parties do not have proper registers of their members, which was a reason to reject the direct primary option.

 

According to him, this is an appalling admission that political parties in the country do not have credible and up to date registers of their members.  We are left to question how those parties have thus far managed their affairs, including conducting congresses and primary elections, whether by direct or indirect means.

 

The Speaker further lamented the failure to maintain a proper register of its members noting that it violates the spirit of the constitution and makes it impossible for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enforce the constitutional requirement for political parties to ensure that their membership reflects the federal character of Nigeria.

 

Gbajabiamila said that it is disappointing that the failure of political parties to adequately document their membership is being used to not give the Nigerian people the power to fully participate in our nation’s politics.

 

He averred that a direct primary mandate in the law, would have forced political parties to properly register their members within the shortest possible time.                                                           This he said would have been the singular most significant reform of our political party system in a generation.

He noted that the proposal for direct primary elections is valuable for building accountability in our political adding that they must not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

The House he said ‘ll reintroduce the amendment the next legislative day and we will work quickly to address the mitigating concerns, pass the Bill and send it back to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

 

Regarding issues relating to inelegant drafting and other technical errors in the Bill, he said that it is a matter of concern as it appears the version sent to the President differs from what is circulating in the public domain.

 

He however noted that in December of last year he had appointed a technical team to look into the issue.

 

Gbajabiamila said that he expects to have a report within the next day or two so that they can proceed to the next stage.

 

He also told his colleagues that they have less than thirteen months to the next general election and so time is of the essence.

 

He added that a credible electoral law is what the people want and it is what the people deserve adding that we must give it to them.

 

The Speaker submitted that the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill includes many other provisions that will serve our democracy well, and we cannot throw away the baby with the bathwater.

 

He als said that the current constitutional review effort is as crucial as the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.

 

According to the Speaker, amending our nation’s constitution to address longstanding areas of disagreement and remove the vestiges of militarism from our democracy is one of the central commitments we made in the 9th House.

 

He stated that it is a commitment we must meet or risk the harsh judgment of history.

 

He said that they will prioritise action to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives.  Fortunately, we are in the final stages of that effort and will shortly conclude this all-important work.

 

He informed the lawmakers that the Deputy Speaker had started the first set of amendments and they ‘ll be forwarded to the state assemblies for consideration before the end of February.

 

The Speaker also said that this is the final year the House has to conclude work on its legislative agenda and fulfil the obligations of  what he called “Our Contract with Nigerians”.