By Olusegun Olanrewaju
As the deadline for President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law elapsed midnight yesterday, Nigerians have called on the National Assembly to veto the president.
The National Assembly had on November 20 transmitted the amended bill to President Buhari for his assent, but in the last 30 days, there had been debates over an aspect bill that stipulates direct primary elections for political parties to pick their candidates for election.
As of midnight yesterday, there are no indications whether the President has signed the bill into law or communicated to the National Assembly the reason for his inaction. This is coming as the lawmakers are billed to proceed on recess Tuesday for the Christmas break. Resumption is expected to be in the second week of January 2022.
There are indications that the House of Representatives is contemplating overriding the President on the yet-to-be-assented electoral amended bill. This is because the constitutional 30-day window given to the President to give his assent or withhold the same to the bill of the National Assembly has elapsed.
Section 58 (4) of 1999 (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 thus: “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by a two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.”
This section implies that if the President withholds his assent and it is again taken to both chambers of the National Assembly, a two-thirds majority of both Houses must pass the bill.
If the two-thirds majority in each House passes the bill, then it becomes law, and the Presidents’ assent, that is, approval is no longer needed or required.
The two major amendments in the new bill, among others, were the electronic transmission of election results and the direct mode of primaries for political parties to choose their candidates for elections.
Amid the debate on the two clauses, however, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has repeatedly cleared the air, saying those are no issues.
In their different reactions to the deadline, some lawmakers and Nigerians have sought for the overriding of the President to make the bill a law.
Reactions
A lawyer, Mr Akpofure Omonigho, supports the idea of veto. According to him, it will be the most courageous thing the legislature could bail the country out of an alleged move to rig subsequent elections in the country by the ruling party.
“It is a welcome idea. We have seen how desperate they are to position themselves for the rigging elections. That is why they’ve been trying to tinker with appointments to the commissionership in INEC by foisting pre-arranged candidates, considering the level of “political awareness” and “Get involved” spirit from everyone. Just open up the system for all and sundry with no exceptions,” he said.
A party chieftain, Chief Adisa Okanlawon, told ThisNigeria that the veto might or might not be necessary since the technicality for the eventual passing of the bill would end up with the National Assembly.
A legislator from Imo State in the House of Representatives, Henry Nwawuba, said, “I’ll lobby for NASS to override the President. On his part, another SAN, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has asked the National Assembly to veto the electoral act amendment bill if President Muhammadu Buhari refuses to sign it.
He noted that since it has taken the whole constitution one month for the bill to be signed by the president and he has refused to do so, it has been about a month since the president received the legislation, the National Assembly should take the mantle of leadership to veto the bill.
In a statement, Adegboruwa said the failure of the president to sign the bill before traveling for a summit in Turkey is “truncating the reforms encapsulated in that historic bill”. “The president did not assent before he traveled to Turkey, thus truncating the reforms encapsulated in that historic bill.”
“There are many innovative provisions in the bill that make it attractive as a tool to oil our democratic experiment, especially the issues of electronic transmission of election results and direct primaries for the political parties.
“From the events monitored on the floor of the National Assembly, and indeed the public hearings conducted, it is clear that Nigerians prefer that results of elections be transmitted electronically by INEC to avoid the recurring decimal of manipulation and rigging.
“In the same vein, direct primaries for the choice of candidates of political parties will eliminate the hydra-headed issues of godfatherism and the imposition of candidates. “Under section 58 (5) of the 1999 constitution, where the president withholds his assent and a bill is again passed by each house by a two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.
“I urge the National Assembly, in the national interest, to invoke its constitutional powers to pass the electoral bill and save our democracy from imminent collapse. As the elected representatives of the people, our legislators should act in the interest of their respective constituencies.”
The legislation provides for electronic transmission of election results and the compulsory use of direct primary to pick candidates by all political parties.
