By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
A Civil rights lawyer and member of Elections Observer Team, Barrister Chukwuma Ezeala has argued that
there is no reason President Muhammadu Buhari should not sign the much-awaited Electoral Act Amendment Bill with less than 48 hours to the end of the period allowed by the Constitution for him to assent to the Bill or return it to the National Assembly.
Ezeala also called on the President to take a second look at the list of his recent nominees for the position of National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sent to the National Assembly.
Speaking on African Independent Television (AIT) breakfast programme Kakaaki on Friday, the legal practitioner stated that President Buhari owe Nigerians a duty to leave an electoral legacy by signing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before Sunday.
Said he: “I have the feeling that Mr. President will Assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before he runs out of time to do so. He can even sign it from wherever he is or he can delegate the Vice President who is the Acting President whenever the President is away from his duty post.
“There is no reason for President Buhari not to sign the Bill because he cannot say that Governors and National Assembly members are quarreling over Direct Primary or Indirect Primary elections let him thereafore withhold his assent”.
“Mr. President should remember that he came to power via Direct Primary election conducted by his All Progressive Congress (APC) and, indeed, Nigeria has been practising Direct Primaries since 1993, the Option A4 mode of primary elections. Although I am not advocating for Option A4 in 2023, I will urge Mr. President to give Nigerians the new Electoral Act Amendment Bill they have been calling for.”
Meanwhile, Ezeala has appealed to President Buhari to take a close look at the names of those he nominated to fill the vacant positions in INEC following the expiration of tenures of some INEC National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC).
According to him: “Mr. President should save the country the trauma of having to go back to the Nigeria elections of 2007 when the head of INEC had good intentions to conduct free and fair elections but many of the RECs and National Commissioners had another agenda.
“Mr. President should not encourage “State Capture” by appointing politicians into INEC to spoil his good intentions. By this I mean that Nigeria’s electoral umpire should have credible people like Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Usman Muazu (Rtd.) and Mr. Mike Igini, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Akwa Ibom state who have shown incredible patriotism and candour in the discharge of their duties.
The civil society advocate wondered why such credible Nigerians who have worked hard to bring respect to the present INEC should not be reappointed as Nigerians look forward to the 2023 General Election.
