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By Henry Uche
As president Mohammadu Buhari finally signed the Electoral Amendment bill into law just recently, many Nigerians saw it as an afterthought, to some it was a welcomed development and a way forward towards restoring moral sanity in the electoral process, while others believe it was not yet uhuru for what Nigeria is known for- Politically.
Recall that the National Assembly had passed the reworked bill on January 25, 2022 and transmitted it to the President for assent on January 31, 2022. Buhari vetoed the first version transmitted to him on November 19, 2021, owing to the restriction of political parties to direct primary in the selection of candidates for elections into public offices. It is hoped that the Act contains many progressive provisions that would facilitate the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.
However, there are fear that the pressure-induced assented piece of legislation, though laudable, may not be useful unless it is implemented to the letter by the Independent National Electoral Commission with the support of every Nigerian.
Through (an opinion pool) many have fingered state actors of deploying forces and instrumentalities of financial power among others to induce or deceive gullible and hungry electorate and a privileged few who would stop at nothing to “bend the law without conspicuously breaking it” to achieve their sinister agenda.
Reacting to the development, the Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) felt agog but warned against any body or corporate who are hell bent to thwart or puncture the process using any form of machinations. HEDA’s fear was evident following the controversies that ensued the nominations and confirmations of some persons who are “Not fit and proper” to be either state of national electoral commissioners.
Suraju called on the National Assembly to “ensure that gazetted copies of the Electoral Act 2022 are available to citizens and election stakeholders in a timely manner” hence “a delay in this will further reduce the opportunities for citizens and stakeholders to sufficiently familiarise themselves with provisions in the new Act and support its implementation.
He believe elections would never be the same again and more Nigerians would be encouraged to get their PVCs, exercise their franchise and “be in the know” politics- wise, knowing their votes would count going forward.
“No doubt the Electoral Act 2022 which replaces the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) would go a step further to fix some anomalies in the electoral processes, reduce electoral fraud and give the people a sense of belonging when their votes count,” he said.
For Nigerians, law is one thing, but the respect for the law is another thing. No matter how beautiful a law is, if there is no desire, no commitment, and obligation to ensure compliance with law, the law could be less effective and efficient. Thus, the need to respect the law now that Nigeria have an improvement over what it had in the previous years becomes imperative.
On the President’s reservations about Section 84 (12) of the new law, which bars political appointees from voting or being voted for in political parties’ congresses and conventions, some concern Nigerians have advised the NASS to ignore the president’s self desire and focus on other pressing issues.
The section 84 (12) reads, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”
It is expected that Nigerians would heave a sigh of relief starting from Ekiti and Osun State elections if those on whose shoulders rest the onus to see this new law through would behalf accordingly.
