President Muhammadu Buhari is looking forward to passing the Electoral Law Amendment Bill 2021, said his Senior Special Assistant for National Assembly (Senate) Affairs Babajide Omoworare.
Mr. Omoworare, a former senator, made this claim in Abuja on Thursday during a debate organized by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
The policy dialogue focused on “Election Bill 2021 and Seeking Presidential Approval: Emerging Issues”.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) recalls that the National Assembly had transmitted the revised bill to the president on Monday, January 31, for his assent.
Mr. Omoworare said that the President, the Federation’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, and other stakeholders were conducting consultations to pass the bill.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. [PHOTO CREDIT: @SanMalami]“I have good authority that the attorney general is deliberating with him right now and it’s not just the attorney general.
“For any bill that reaches the President, he consults before deciding to sanction or deny his assent with reasons in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution.
“We are aware that even though the president needs 30 days under Section 58 to sign, the president is willing to sign it,” he said.
The former president also spoke Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, said that a good law was necessary for electoral integrity.
“We were in an unfortunate situation where a trend had begun to develop, where both the Executive and the Legislative did not see the need to urgently improve the electoral legal framework so that we can continue to raise the integrity of our election.
“Fortunately, we now have a good law that comes out of the reform process that began after the 2019 elections.”
Jega, who said that while it was unfortunate that it had taken so long to amend the bill, noted that the legal framework was now perhaps “the best electoral law in our history.
“It will certainly add tremendous value to the integrity of our elections going forward when it is signed.”
Similarly, YIAGA Africa Executive Director Samson Itodo said it was insignificant for Nigeria to enter another round of elections under the current Electoral Law.
Samson Itodo (Photo credit: THISDAYLIVE)
“This bill contains some very notable proposed amendments. Since 2010, this is perhaps one of the best electoral laws in our country. We hope the president will agree to this.
“We just hope that the amount of time the president used to communicate his decision in December is not the same case; and he assured us. And most importantly, because we are in a national electoral emergency.
“If the INEC needs to issue an election notice 360 days before election day, by Friday of next week, I think the INEC should be issuing an election notice.
“If the bill is not approved, it will have an impact on the deadlines for the elections,” Itodo said.
The Director General of the National Institute for Legislative Studies, Abubakar Sulaiman, said that it had become increasingly clear that the 2010 Electoral Law (as amended) had ceased to matter.
“Hence the need to complete the process of the Electoral Law Project 2021, pending the presidential sanction.”
Sulaiman said that as INEC prepares for the Ekiti and Ondo gubernatorial elections and the 2023 general election, it cannot do so due to the uncertainty of whether or not a new legal framework will come into effect.
“Any delay in enacting the bill will directly hinder INEC’s preparation for the elections.”
However, he said that the bill did indeed have the potential to increase transparency, legitimacy and the confidence of the electorate in the leadership selection process and the country’s democracy.
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For his part, the Principal Technical Advisor to the INEC President, Bolade Eyinla, said that approving the bill “is a controversial issue.
“The applicability of a law depends on when it is signed and when it is supposed to be applied. For us at INEC, we will continue planning our election based on the Laws and Regulations in Force. If someone is signed and applicable, it will be used,” Eyinla said.
The Secretary of the National Assembly, Olatunde Amos, transmitted the authenticated copies of the Electoral Bill 2022 to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, on January 31.
This was done in accordance with the provisions of Section 58(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Authentication of Laws Act Cap. A2 LFN 2004.
Mr. Buhari declined the assent to the Electoral Bill 2021 that was transmitted to him on November 19, 2021.
Subsequently, the electoral bill was reviewed by the National Assembly and both the Senate and the House of Representatives approved it on January 25.
(YAYA)