By Cajetan Mmuta
Angst, outright condemnation, and disappointment are the words as members of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), lawyers and other stakeholders react to President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to the Senate plenary on his decision to withhold assent to the amended Electoral Bill based on advice from formed quarters.
A Senior Lawyer and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barr. Chibunna John Okoli-Akirika said the President’s refusal to assent to the Electoral bill smacks of the height of insensitivity, undemocratic, anti-people, anti-progressive, and unjustifiable as he has no interest of the people at heart.
He said,”The President’s refusal to assent to the amended Electoral Bill is very unfortunate and untenable that he was advised from informed quarters, describing it as quite anomalous; which I formed quarters must have advised him than the people’s representatives, the Senate and House of Representatives?
If the President has respect for Nigerians, if actually, he wants to make history, if actually, he is interested in taking our electoral system to the next level; if actually, he is interested in leaving an electoral image for Nigeria what he should have done was to have signed that amended bill without hesitation after all party members are already members of the party and making members automatic delegates does not in any way affect democracy or freedom of association neither is it u Democratic.
So the President’s reason is quite strange, it’s quite unjustifiable, it’s anti-people, it’s anti-progressive, it’s the height of insensitivity for him not to assent to that kind of historic bill that would give every party member, not just a say but a sense of belonging and how to participate in the affairs of the party. So, the President’s reason is as ridiculous as it is illogical, it is untenable as it is unjustifiable.”
“How can you allege that affects the rights to freedom of association, it does not because an into the party members are already members of the party so if you don’t want to give them the right to participate in the choice of party candidates that does not affect the right to freedom of association.”
“The things he should do is to find a way he should send it (bill) to the National Assembly to return the bill or the National Assembly should summon the requisite majority, comply with the rules and veto or muster the two-third majority, out aside parochial inclination and partisan interest and take a position that will reflect the overall interest of Nigerians,” he stated.
Chairman of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety), Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi said, “It is tiring and frustrating reacting to the dictatorial tendencies of the Presidency and its conspiratorial Senate leadership.”
He said “The country, right now, is in a mess under the duo and it is getting messier day by day. Both the Presidency and the Senate leadership do not have an interest in the country’s democracy at heart. We do not have the National Assembly that is capable of overriding the Presidency in a moment like this.”
According to Umeagbalasi, “What we have is a conspiratorial National Assembly that will eventually ask the presidency to ‘perfect’ the grey areas according to its whims and caprices and in the end return same to the same presidency to assent.”
On its part, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide said the apex Socio-Cultural organization is watching the entire drama with keen interest as they unfold insisting that it would continue to maintain apolitical to issues bordering on party politics and politicians.
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Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide Chief Alex Ogbonnia said “it’s like two sides of a coin; no coin will be complete without both sides. The political class, some of them are clamoring for direct primaries while others are for indirect primaries.
So the position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is that the architects of democracy made provisions for the parliament and the executive arms they are supposed to be separate but in our own circumstance there is fusion, they are fused together making it impossible for one to contemplate vetoing. Coming to the Electoral bill we (Ohanaeze) want to watch the political class’s come with their position.
Ohanaeze does not really come into circumstances as this let us watch; the reasons by the Presidency are germane and our problem is not really how to win elections but in the leadership. When they go there they ignore the masses.”
