As state institutions, the Executive and the Legislative arms of the Nigerian government appeared to have conspired to fail the Nigerian people, the very people who made it possible for them to occupy public office. When the electorate were casting their votes for President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal legislators in 2019, they did so with the hope that those they voted for would come out with electoral reform.
With all that has been happening in the country since the 2019 elections, those massive votes may have been wasted. The Executive and the Legislature do not appear to have the interest of the people at heart. They are largely concerned with what benefits them. That is why they are not worried about the rising unemployment and the ravaging epidemic of poverty.
It is only in Nigeria that the interest of its president is more paramount than that of the country. Perhaps, it is only in Nigeria that federal legislators are overtly timid and wasteful of resources. With the nasty development on the Electoral Bill 2021, it is high time we began to demand that lawmakers should refund amounts they squandered in failed legislations.
Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) says the civic group is disappointed at the action of President Buhari in vetoing the Electoral Bill 2021, which was submitted to him for assent last November 19.
According to him, ‘’PLAC is concerned that the veto and delays in passing a new Electoral Act to conduct the 2023 General Elections is disruptive of the country’s democracy and electoral reforms, started since the Justice Uwais led Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) established by President Musa Yar’Adua in 2007, made reform recommendations.
‘’These reforms began to be implemented by President Goodluck Jonathan and have resulted in the conduct of improved elections in Nigeria, including the election of President Buhari in 2015. It is worrying that rather than seeking to expand and continue to build on the improvements made to the electoral system, present-day political leaders have insisted on pursuing actions that derogate from the progress recorded so far, by refusing to agree to improved laws that seek to enhance Nigeria’s electoral system.’’
While the current Electoral Bill has tried to resolve a number of outstanding issues in the electoral system such as providing legal backing for the use of voting devices and the electronic transmission of election results, as well as an improved voting procedure for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), President Buhari’s veto and any further delays to the enactment of an Electoral law for Nigeria poses a serious threat to the conduct of the forthcoming 2023 Nigerian General Elections.
PLAC is calling on the Nigerian National Assembly to seriously examine and review the communication from President Buhari and the reasons given for the veto, with a view to responding in a manner that saves the key reform provisions contained in the Electoral Bill.
‘’It is our view that while the mode of conduct of political party primaries, whether by direct or indirect primaries, has a significant impact on grassroots participation in politics, the National Assembly may need to address the concerns expressed by the President and amend the Electoral Bill to reflect the President’s singular concern with direct primaries, in order to save the other landmark reforms contained in the Electoral Bill 2021, over which the President has expressed no worries.’’
Like PLAC, we are also calling on the National Assembly to treat the issue of passing the new Electoral Bill as a matter of national emergency and convene a special session in the shortest possible time and irrespective of their end of year break, to consider a vote for the passage of the Electoral Bill 2021. Subjecting a sophisticated country like Nigeria to the dictate of one person is idiotic, to say the least.
