CONFUSION pervaded the country on Saturday over whether President Muhammadu has signed a further amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 transmitted to him by the National Assembly.
Presidential assent to the amendment bill will widen the Electoral College for party primaries and the delay in signing the bill has caused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to shift their primaries and conventions a couple of times.
The push for statutory delegates to be included in the Electoral College informed the amendment to Section 84 (8) of the Electoral Act 2022 recently passed to Buhari by the National Assembly.
Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare could not confirm if President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the amendment as he merely disclosed that “the president ought to have signed [it].”
But speaking to Sunday Tribune in a telephone interview, Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the president, Mallam Garba Sheu, dismissed news that President Buhari had signed the amendment to Electoral Act.
He demanded the source of the news: “I don’t know where you got that from? As I speak to you, we just landed in Abuja from Dubai. We are all proceeding home now.”
Asked if President Buhari could still sign this weekend, Mallam Sheu said,” It was not unlikely.” The amendment is crucial to the participation of statutory delegates at the primaries and national convention of political parties. They have been excluded from voting and being voted for during the exercises in the previous amendment signed into law by the president. The statutory delegates of political parties stand the risk of exclusion from the exercises if the president does not sign the amendment Bill latest by Sunday.
Since they are required by the Electoral Act to submit the lists of their delegates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seven days to the national convention, the parties can only make do with elected delegate.
Only elected ad-hoc delegates will vote in our primaries —PDP
However, to avoid running foul of the Electoral Act should the president not sign the bill, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has now decided that only democratically elected delegates can vote in its primaries and national convention, which it will use for the indirect mode it has adopted to conduct its primaries.
Therefore, only the three adhoc delegates elected per ward and one national delegate elected at the local government areas across the country are eligible to vote at the exercises. The main opposition party made the clarification on Saturday in a statement by Umar Bature, National Organising Secretary of the party.
The party also announced the shifting of its primary to elect state House of Assembly candidates.
The state Assembly primary was moved from Saturday, May 21, 2022 to Sunday, May 22, 2022, the same day that of the House of Representatives will take place.
The statement reads: “By virtue of Section 84 (8) of the Electoral Act, 2022, delegates to vote at the indirect primaries and national convention of political parties to elect candidates for elections shall be those democratically elected for that purpose only.
“Consequently those qualified and eligible to vote as delegates in the forthcoming primaries and national convention of our great party, the PDP are the three (3) Adhoc-delegates per ward, elected at the ward congresses and one (1) national delegate per local government, elected at the local government area congresses.
“Furthermore, the NWC wishes to inform our party members that the state Houses of Assembly primaries to elect our state House of Assembly candidates, earlier scheduled for Saturday, May 21, 2022, will now hold on Sunday, May 22, 2022, from 8:00am to 12 noon; while the House of Representatives primaries to elect our House of Representatives candidates will also hold on Sunday, May 22, 2022, from 2:00 pm.
“All aspirants, critical stakeholders, leaders and teeming members of our party should please take note.”
The PDP’s position is not unconnected with the delay by President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the fresh amendment to the Electoral Act into law.
NASS members divided
But as anxiety persists over President Buhari’s assent, indication has emerged that the Red Chamber is divided over the push for statutory delegates by the Senator Lawan-led National Assembly which was the thrust of the amendment.
Some of the senators who spoke to Sunday Tribune in confidence said unlike the battle for direct primary between governors and federal lawmakers which was won by the former power bloc, the recent amendment to the Electoral Act did not enjoy the support of majority of lawmakers.
One of the Senators actually dismissed it as a meddling process, not an amendment. Checks revealed that the new amendment makes accommodation for statutory delegates aside the automatic delegates.
It read in part: “A political party that adopts the system of indirect primaries for the choice of its candidates shall clearly outline in its constitution and rules the procedure for the democratic election of delegates to vote at the convention, congress or meeting, in addition to statutory delegates already prescribed in the constitution of the party.”
Statutory delegates include serving members of the National Assembly and former principal officers, serving and former elected state governors and deputy governors. Also included are members of state assemblies and former presiding officers of state assemblies.
Sunday Tribune checks showed that before the National Assembly made its pronouncement on a short break to enable members partake in ongoing congresses, both chambers of parliament had passed the amendment to Section 84 (8) of the Electoral Act 2022.
In the Senate, Deputy Senate President and Senator representing Delta Central, Ovie Omo-Agege, had presented a bill to seek an amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 to accommodate statutory delegates.
Speaking after the passage, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the Red Chamber took the move to correct what he called an “unintended omission that needed to be urgently corrected before the commencement of party primaries.”
One of the Senators who spoke to Sunday Tribune said it was unfortunate that his colleagues could not read between the lines that the motive of the Senate President was to promote his presidential ambition and only used certain principal officers of the Senate to push for the amendment.
He said: “Few individuals that enjoy privilege are pushing for it. What is happening isn’t Electoral Act amendment but meddling with it for personal interest. That isn’t what we swore to do. What we swore by Bible and Quran to do is to enhance the credibility of the Electoral process, not somebody’s interest.
“Some of our colleagues in the INEC Committee are the ones being used. Unfortunately, members are too busy to read between the lines. My prayer is that the outcome will be in the interest of all Nigerians and give us credible elections.
“But I must tell you, the majority are not happy with the meddling with the Electoral Act that they call amendment.”
Another Senator, who expressed strong reservations over the timing, however, faulted the motive of personal interest alleged by his colleague.
“There is nothing bad if we think about former colleagues who feel sidelined and marginalised. All of us will move out of the parliament one day. It is proper to seek to accommodate them in party matters, but the timing is wrong.”
The lawmaker faulted the claim that Lawan was using the Senate to promote personal ambition as he noted that another serving Senator, Robert Ajayi Boriffice, equally purchased nomination forms for the presidential race. Senate spokesman, Ajibola Basiru, could not be reached for comments. He neither picked up his calls nor responded to text messages sent to him.
Sunday Tribune investigation revealed that in the face of uncertainty over the presidential assent, the APC National Working Committee has made provisions for election of three ad-hoc delegates across the 774 local government areas, putting the total estimate of delegates to assemble at Eagles Square, venue of the presidential convention, at 2,340 (in addition to 18 from the six Federal Capital Territory Area Councils).
Further checks revealed that 780 ad-hoc delegates will determine the fate of the presidential aspirants in the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Party sources also told Sunday Tribune that despite the anxiety over presidential assent to the amended Act, the governors in APC controlled states have since taken firm control of election of adhoc delegates for governorship primary and presidential convention.
Source: Sunday Tribune.