joshua
Ayo Ola
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) on Thursday warned politicians against thwarting the 2022 Electoral Amendment Law, adding that it will be detrimental to Nigeria’s democracy if they circumvented the law.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last Friday assented to the 2022 Electoral Amendment Act, a development that elicited commendations across all shades of opinions of Nigerians.
The Chairman of HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju in a statement expressed joy over the President’s assent to the Act.
According to him, the progressive provisions contained in the Act would facilitate the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections going forward.
He raised the alarm that there are fears that the pressure-induced assented piece of legislation (though laudable) may not be useful unless it is implemented to the letter by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), politicians, law enforcement agencies, political parties, media with the support of every Nigerian.
Suraju said, “It is a welcome development though after a back and forth delay occasioned by several political manipulations, however, we believe it would go a long way to fix some challenges faced by the country’s political system and process.
He warned that Nigerians should resist any person (or corporate) bent on thwarting and or manipulating the law without actually breaking it in any guise.
“Many have expressed the fear that some state actors would stop at nothing to deploy forces and instrumentalities of financial power among others to induce or deceive gullible electorate, more so, a privileged few are also determined to ‘bend the law without conspicuously breaking it’ to achieve their sinister motives.”
Suraju called on the National Assembly to ensure that gazetted copies of the Electoral Act 2022 are available to citizens and election stakeholders in a timely manner.
He warned that a delay in this could further reduce the opportunities for citizens and stakeholders to sufficiently familiarise themselves with provisions in the new Act and support its implementation.
According to him, elections in the country would never be the same again and more Nigerians would be encouraged to get their Permanent Voters Cards, exercise their franchise, and be informed, knowing their votes would count going forward.
Suraju said, “No doubt the Electoral Act 2022 which replaces the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) would go a step further to fix some anomalies in the electoral processes, reduce electoral fraud and give the people a sense of belonging when their votes count.”
“For Nigerian elites, the law is one thing, but the respect for the law is another thing. No matter how beautiful a law is, if the desire, commitment, and obligation, to ensure compliance with the law is lacking, the law could be less effective and efficient. Thus, the need to respect the law now that Nigeria has an improvement over what it had in the previous years becomes imperative.”
On the President’s reservations about Section 84 (12) of the new law, which bars political appointees from voting or being voted for in political parties’ congresses and conventions, Suraju advised the NASS to focus on other pressing issues and strengthening of the Act.
Suraju said, “Section 84 (12) reads, ‘No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.’
“It is expected that Nigerians would heave a sigh of relief, starting from Ekiti and Osun State elections and following the results that shall be announced, if those on whose shoulders rest the onus to see this new law are obeyed and defaulters severely punished discharge their responsibilities.”…. Continue reading
