A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold assent to the Electoral Bill 2021 undermines public confidence and trust in the electoral system.
The CSOs, in a statement, consequently called on the National Assembly (NASS) to either override the president’s decision or remove the ‘contentious clauses’ from the bill and transmit to the president for assent within 30 days.
The statement was signed by Yiaga Africa, CLEEN Foundation, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Citizens with Disability (CCD), Albino Foundation, Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ).
President Buhari, in a letter to NASS, withheld assent to the bill over concerns raised on direct primaries.
Compulsory direct primaries for political parties and electronic transmission of election results are among the amendments proposed by the federal lawmakers.
According to the president, the amendment may open up the electoral system to a plethora of litigations based on diverse grounds and issues of law.
‘The amendment as proposed is the violation of the underlying spirit of democracy, which is characterised by freedom of choices of which political party membership is a voluntary exercise of the constitutional right of freedom of association’, the Nigerian leader said in the letter.
‘The proposed amendment might also give rise to a plethora of litigations based on diverse grounds and issues of law, including but not limited to, the fact that the proposed amendment could not work in retrospect, given that the existing constitution of the parties already registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) permits direct, indirect and consensus primaries.
‘I hereby signify to the National Assembly that I am constrained to withhold assent to the bill in line with section 58 (1) of the 1999 constitution’.
But the CSOs faulted the president’s decision, saying it will have serious implication for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
‘The president’s decision to withhold assent to the bill will have serious implications for INEC as it prepares for the FCT Area Council election, the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, and ultimately the 2023 general election’, the statement reads.
‘The non-conclusion of the electoral amendment process will mean that these elections will be conducted using the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) denying INEC the opportunity to test the efficacy of some of the new innovations introduced in the proposed Electoral Bill 2021.
‘This is apart from the delay the commission will have to contend with in the required effort to review its guidelines, regulations and manuals in accordance with certain provisions of the bill’.
According to the Nigerian constitution, a two-thirds majority of NASS can override a veto by the president and pass any bill into law.
Photo source: National Assembly Voices
