After the 30 days window within which to act on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill sent by the National Assembly to President Muhammadu Buhari lapsed on December 19, as the lawmakers sent the bill to the President on November 19, the president on December 20, refused to assent to the much anticipated bill.
In his 19-paragraph letter to the assembly, President Buhari amongst others hinged his objection on the direct mode of conducting party primary, which is one section of a bill of about 158 sections, for the rejection of the bill. He cited cost, security, financial crimes, existing party constitution, manipulation or malpractice, rights violation etc. for withholding his assent.
President Buhari in the letter dated December 13, 2021, had explained that his decision to withhold assent to the electoral bill was informed by advice from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government after a thorough review.
The implication is that it took the president 30 days to fish for reasons to reject the bill and finally placating the governors of the party who have not rested since the bill was sent from the national assembly to the president.
In spite of his avowed commitment to electoral reforms, the president’s actions and body language point to the contrary.
On March 3, 2018, Buhari refused to sign the electoral amendment bill arguing that it usurped the constitutional powers of INEC to decide on election matters, including fixing the dates and the order they would be held. Again, on September 4, 2018, he refused assent claiming that it was too close to the general election. He was the biggest beneficiary as the flawed 2019 presidential election was in his favour.
In the first place, the president’s hesitance can be traced to the fact that he has little or no regard for the national assembly but only responded, albeit belatedly, because that if he had failed to take a decision as stipulated by the extant laws of the land he may be found on the wrong side of the law.
Section 58 (4) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) stipulates that: “Where a bill is presented to the President for assent, he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent.”
Similarly, section 58 (5) provides: “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.”
According to the President, signing the bill into law would have serious adverse legal, financial, economic and security consequences on the country, particularly in view of Nigeria’s peculiarities, adding that it would also impact negatively on the rights of citizens to participate in the government as constitutionally ensured.
If you still have faith in the 9th national assembly, you must be anchoring your optimism on something not open to all, perhaps on something celestial and beyond the capacity of human reasoning or logic.
For one, how can the president take 30 days to reject the parties’ mode of conducting primary? Really, can that be the problem? The reasons advanced by the president might as well be used in rejecting our brand of democracy. It can as well be adduced to stop the election of 2023, if indeed the president’s worries are not more than meet the eye. By 2023 will the cost of conducting the general elections be cheaper, will the security situation have improved, will manipulation or malpractice be a thing of the past or will there not be human rights abuses any longer?
Those who scripted that 19-paragraph letter to the National Assembly were smart by half. They could have done better. It only conveys the disdain with which the presidency treats an arm of government that risks its reputation as the bastion of democracy, just to appease the president and for which it has been derisively described as the fans club of the presidency.
We have argued severally that acquiescing regularly and consistently to the whims and caprices of the presidency by the national assembly is against the very principle of democracy which envisages independence for the three arms of government for purposes of oversight and checks and balance.
Angered by this development, some senators disclosed that they are gathering signatures to override the President’s veto. Some senators had disclosed that they had gathered over 80 signatures as at Thursday.
Shortly after their closed session, to deliberate on the President’s decision to withhold assent, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said that the Senate would consult with the House of Representatives on how to respond to President Buhari’s letter on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
According to the Senate President, the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) does not permit the upper chamber to exclusively take any action on such matters in the absence of the House of Representatives, since the latter had embarked on recess.
He, however, assured that a joint position would be reached with the House after due consultation with Nigerians to determine the appropriate line of action when both chambers reconvene from the Christmas break in January.
If there is anything the legislators should be doing between now and January and specifically the Senate when it reconvenes on January 18, it is to begin to think how it can best restore some modicum of dignity back to that legislature; the hallowed chamber and the pillar upon which democracy is built. It is obvious that the presidency, populated mostly by political appointees and presidential hangers-on, who have nothing really at stake when the chips are down, don’t care a hoot about the future of the nation but their personal benefits. It is not about being unnecessarily antagonistic or confrontational but about leaving a legacy that will stand out in generations to come.
For want of space, we might as well just take a look at some of those objections raised by the president. Indeed, the premise is so faulty that it’s difficult to make a pick on any that is plausible.
The president had said direct primary has serious adverse legal, financial, economic and security consequences which cannot be accommodated at the moment considering the nation’s peculiarities. Yet that same presidency is bent on pushing to spend billions of naira on a census that we know will be an exercise in futility. Have we gotten around all the primordial, sectional, religious and tribal pitfalls that have always trailed our censuses in the past? Yet, money must be spent on that in 2022. What are the current peculiarities that the presidency alludes to, that are expected to subsist forever, is it insecurity? Will there be general elections in the north east, North West, north central and parts of the south in 2023, since insurgency, banditry, kidnappings have now come to stay?
The federal government plans to remove subsidies on premium motor spirit (PMS) and is prepared to budget N2.4 trillion to about 40 million Nigerians as transportation grants in a phantom scheme that would leave more questions than answers in the end.
In mourning more than the bereaved, the presidency said direct primaries are also subject or susceptible to manipulation or malpractices as most parties cannot boast of reliable and verified membership register or valid means of identification which, therefore, means non-members can be recruited to vote by wealthy contestants to influence the outcome. What an irony, even when the opposition, particularly the PDP, seem to welcome direct primary.
Can the presidency tell us what happened with the famed bullion vans that entered the venue of the APC presidential primaries of 2014 that swung the presidential ticket in favour of Buhari? Can they also tell us how democratic the governorship primary of Lagos State in 2018, that denied Akinwunmi Ambode the second term ticket in 2019?
Any party that cannot boast of a credible database of its members cannot be contesting elections in 2023. Data rules the world today. Who says members cannot vote with their low-end telephones from the comforts of their homes in a party primary in this age of technology? What is the presidency and president afraid of?
The outcome of some recent elections particularly, that of Anambra State, is an indication that what we have now in the name of party primaries are huge jokes and must be discarded with. With the adoption of technology elections are cheaper, safer and more credible.
Come January, again the legislators will chicken out, but the least that is expected of them is to return the bill to the presidency leaving the party to determine their mode of conducting primaries, whether direct or indirect. The future of this country is greater than Buhari and the governors. There can only be one reason for the docility of the national assembly and it must be their overriding personal interests over and above the common interest of the majority of Nigerians. The president has simply refused to reciprocate the gestures of the legislators by consistently exposing his disregard and condescension for the legislators.
