By Ben Adoga, David Lawani and Linus Aleke, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari is ready to assent to the Electoral bill amendment within hours from Tuesday, says Senior Special Assistant to the President, Femi Adesina.
Speaking on Channels television Tuesday, amid Civil Society protest for the President to sign the bill, Adesina disclosed that Buhari is ready to sign the bill within hours and not days.
This was as the CSOs made good their threat as they came out in their numbers to pressure the President to sign the bill into law.
The protest which took place at the Unity Fountain, Abuja was peaceful and organised without hoodlums hijacking it or the situation turning violent.
Security agencies including the Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other security agencies were on the ground to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, including, #Sign it now, “#sign the electoral bill now!” President Buhari sign the Electoral Bill now,” ” President Muhammadu Buhari made history, sign the Electoral Bill now!, ” Prevent Electoral Rigging,” No Bill No Electronic Transmission of Result.”
ThisNigeria had reported that the President earlier declined assent to the bill, citing concerns over the recommendation of direct primaries for political parties as the provision violates the rights of political parties to freely conduct their primaries.
Addressing journalists during the protest, Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director of Enough is Enough (EIE) Nigeria, noted that the bill must be assented to by the President on Tuesday or the date for the 2023 general election earlier announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not stand.
She also posited that the bill empowers technology usage by INEC in law, and it can be admitted as evidence during electoral tribunals.
According to her: “The fact about the bill is that the use of technology now becomes enshrined in law. You know that in the past, they’ll say those card readers are not backed by law and cant be used as evidence in court cases. But this new law recognizes INEC’s prerogative to use technology like BVAS and whatever other technology that INEC wants to use,” Adamolekun said.
“In addition, as of last year, we all knew when the election was going to hold — February 18 and March 4 — but if the president does not sign the bill today, by tomorrow morning when we wake up, we will not know the precise dates the elections will hold.
INEC has been proactive in announcing dates and allowing people to plan ahead of the elections, but if the president doesn’t sign the bill today, that jeopardises everything. The opportunity for the people and the media to plan has been taken away.”
Also, Ene Obi, Country Director, ActionAid, stressed that the bill is needed to keep a close watch on the activities of “those who are saboteurs in INEC” while asking the president to assent to it.
“Give us the bill and give us responsible umpires, and all those who are saboteurs in INEC, we will also be watching them. What we are telling the president is for him to sign the bill. He rejected the bill severally, so we are calling on him to sign the bill now,” she said.
Prominent among the protesters also were the Civil Society Situation Room leader, Amaka Obi, Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, and the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani.
Others were People With Disabilities, women and youths who also gathered calling on Buhari to sign the electoral bill into law.
In December 2018, Buhari again rejected the Bill because, according to him, it was too close to the 2019 general election.
Also, Buhari rejected the current Bill in December 2021 based on the adoption of direct primaries as the only legally approved procedure for the nomination of candidates.
The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, who spoke on at the protest ground said: “We expect President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfil his promises and sign the Electoral bill so that it will no longer be an analogue election, it will no longer be a money bag election. Politicians will no longer truncate the election. We are urging Buhari to sign the electoral bill now before the time frame expires. We hope that Buhari will sign.”
“Electoral corruption remains one of the worst corruption in Nigeria hence the need to move away from the analogue system,” Rafsanjani said.
The CSOs that mobilised for the protest were Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room; YIAGA Africa; Partners for Electoral Reform (PER); International Press Centre; Institute for Media and Society; Nigerian Women Trust Fund; The Albino Foundation; Centre for Citizens with Disability; Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ); Labour Civil Society Coalition (LASCO); Transition Monitoring Group; CLEEN Foundation and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Others are: Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Nigeria Network of Non-Governmental Organizations (NNNGO); Inclusive Friends Association (IFA); Enough is Enough; The Electoral Hub; Centre for Liberty; Take Back Nigeria Movement; International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre (IPCRC); 100 Women Lobby Group; Women in Politics Forum; Raising New Voices; Millennials Active Citizenship Advocacy Africa and Ready To Lead Africa.
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People Leaving With Disabilities and members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) were also in the protest.
The protesters threatened to storm the National Assembly, but they dissolved after the Unity Fountain’s successful delivery of speeches.
However, in a twist yesterday, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President assured Nigerians that the President will sign the bill Wednesday.
