The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari will serve out his term and vacate the Presidential Villa as stipulated by law.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had last night said the APC was behind the president’s refusal to sign the amended Electoral Act Bill into law to achieve certain ends.
Although the APC chair never made a direct reference to the PDP, his remarks were however a veiled reference to issues raised by the opposition party.
Inaugurating the Ekiti state governorship national campaign council in Abuja Monday, APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, dismissed concerns over any planned tenure elongation, urging the council to deliver Ekiti to the president as one of his parting gifts.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is at the beginning of his trip out of the Presidential Villa. He made no secret of it. He is a man of honour, he seeks no extension. He made it public in this very hall that used to be our National Executive Committee NEC meeting hall. He said it that he has been elected for a second term. He is under oath as president to protect and preserve the Nigerian Constitution.
“The Nigerian Constitution has given him two terms of four years each. He has started his second term and at the end of it, he does not intend to, and will not ask for anybody to ask for a third term or any elongation of tenure.
“Recently, he made the same pronouncement sometimes early this year. So, we are on a boat like him to see that he has a soft landing and that is to deliver this party to victory and Ekiti state is the first test.
“So, he takes this election very seriously. We would try to do as much as possible, we will be guided by the rules of engagement for elections, we will observe every rule, every guideline and we do hope that those who will be responsible for overseeing the compliance will be fair arbiters, will be fair referees, will be fair umpires.
“It is our hope and prayer that God Almighty will be with us, will guide us, will ensure that victory is ours.”
Describing Ekiti as the first election that the new National Working Committee (NWC) would be overseeing, Adamu said once there is a contest, there will be a winner and a loser, but that the APC will never be on the losing side.
“We don’t take that for granted. We are going to work as hard as we can to ensure that we deliver our gubernatorial candidate as the next Governor of Ekiti state.
“As we inaugurate this committee, I have one thing in the marching order of this party and that is, don’t come home crying, don’t come home crying. If there is a cry, let them (opposition) go and cry for their principals, not us”, he directed.
In his response, Chairman of the council and Kebbi state Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, recalled served in same capacity about four years ago, saying it is even now easier to secure victory as the APC is no longer in the opposition in the state.
He said: “The committee members, Mr Chairman, you mentioned to me privately, why we have so many members in the campaign council and I agreed with you, particularly, Mr Chairman when some people do not appreciate the importance attached to this assignment.
“This assignment should be acknowledged by all party members because we are only important when we are in power and we know Mr Chairman said we should not come back to complain. We could recall hilariously, Mr Chairman, the 2018 election in Ekiti state was an election in which stomach infrastructure was thrown at us in which someone broke his neck. Well, that is what was said officially all in an attempt to run away from the hard work of the NWC and the Campaign Council in ensuring that we could win Ekiti state.
“Now, we are even more competent because, in the last four years, Governor Kayode Fayemi has done a lot to ensure that Ekiti remains a progressive state.”
Election observers
Meanwhile, indications emerged Monday that political parties may have to go into the primaries without the statutory delegates even as some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) said it is too late to sign the document.
This position became clearer as President Buhari refused to assent to the Electoral Act amendment bill hurriedly effected by the National Assembly to accommodate the statutory delegates.
At the time of this report, many of the political parties had proceeded with the primary elections of their parties without recourse to the statutory delegates.
Some CSOs, while reacting to the failure of President Buhari to assent to the Electoral Act amended to include the statutory delegates, said it’s too late for the president to assent to the bill.
A coalition of 24 election monitoring groups under the aegis of Coalition of Election Monitors and Observers (CEMO), Monday, cautioned the president against signing the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022.
The coalition said signing the document few days to the crucial party primaries to elect presidential candidates would be a disservice to Nigeria’s democracy.
National Convener CEMO Dr. Idris Yabu said this while presenting a report after the meeting of the coalition Monday in Abuja.
The group urged President Buhari to save the nation from a very serious political crisis by returning the amendment bill to the National Assembly for reprocessing for future elections.
CEMO, noted that though the amendment was desirable, signing the bill after most political parties already commenced critical aspects of the electoral process under the current law is “dangerous, counter-productive, capable of triggering widespread political crisis and litigations that can derail the 2023 general elections.”
Yabu said: “It is now too late since political parties have already commenced activities for the 2023 elections under the provisions of the extant law.”
“After a very extensive review and consultations on the issue, we submit that the amendments sought to Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022, as desirable as they may be, have been overtaken by events leading to the 2023 general elections.
“It is instructive to note that political parties, especially the two major political parties in Nigeria have already started the electoral processes under the timelines, schedules and rules prescribed by the provisions of the extant Electoral Act 2022.
“More importantly, it must be noted that political parties have already structured their timetables, sold nomination forms, screened aspirants, conducted congresses, elected delegates, with major parties already holding primaries and candidates already emerging under the rules provided for in the current Electoral Act, 2022.
“In this regard, any alteration or amendment to the Electoral Act, at this moment, will amount to changing the rules in the middle of the game. Such will be “dangerous and counter-productive to our democratic process. It will trigger widespread political crisis and result in litigations that can derail the 2023 general elections.
“Our observation shows that political parties, aspirants and the electorate have already adjusted to the current provision of Section 84 of the Electoral Act. Candidates are already peacefully emerging. Any alteration at this moment has the propensity of dislocating the current political tranquility in the country and disrupt the entire electoral process.”
“CEMO therefore urges President Muhammadu Buhari to save the nation from a serious political crisis at this moment by returning the Amendment Bill to the National Assembly for reprocessing for future elections.
“CEMO also urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to advice Mr. President in this direction to avoid political crisis and ensure the smooth conduct of the 2023 general elections,” they said.
APC Professionals weigh in
Also, the APC Professionals has said the president has nothing to lose not signing the amended Electoral Act Bill into law.
They said: “With current position of the electoral act, the party has nothing to lose, either way, the APC stands a chance to conduct credible primaries across board. We and even Mr. President, have been advocating for the party to be returned to the people to select their leaders. By omission or commission, the expectation is for the delegates, not moneybag politicians, to determine who represents them in government. This will send a strong message to political office holders to account for their stewardship and never to detach themselves from the party that brought them to power.
“We have witnessed in this our government where political appointees close their doors to party that brought them to power, and expect them to be imposed by moneybags in power. This Electoral Act as currently amended, is a blessing in disguise. The legislators and members of the executive seem to be too focused in the scheming game plan rather than concentrate on thorough legislation and execution.
“The President should not be pressured to sign the piece of legislation that may alter or derail the timetable of the electioneering process. It’s a blessing in disguise for the electorates who are at most times at the mercy of political gladiators who care less about good governance. I will also advise the delegates to choose the country above dollars or naira that might be splashed on them by desperate politicians who are willing to use public money to secure tickets at the primaries.
“The scenario is also a warning to desperate public office seekers to always participate in local politics, and not always depending on using stolen money and godfathers to impose them on the party. I don’t think President signing the electoral act at this late hour will help anyone except INEC is willing to adjust their timetable. We have to learn from this situation so that we learn to put our house in order next time.”
Legal intervention
In another intervention, a senior lawyer, Moses Onyilokwu, told one of our correspondents that the Electoral Act does not have the section they wanted the president to sign.
He said: “They just amended it and when they were doing the amendment, they did not do a holistic amendment. Now, some of the primaries have been held, we are waiting for others.
“If you say, sign it now so that statutory delegates will vote, what of the ones that have passed and statutory delegates did not vote? Are you going to hold new primaries in respect of those ones? Even if you do it now that the primaries have started, is it going to take effect on the 2023 or 2027 elections?
“So, since they did not deem it fit to send it when they were amending the act earlier, I do not think that the President has done anything wrong in not signing it.
“Don’t forget that the President himself cannot vote because he is a statutory delegate.
“Also, if it is signed now, some persons may also come up with litigations, troubles and more confusion here and there. So, I think we should leave it the way it is now, until may be the next elections.”
Also speaking, another senior lawyer, Celsus Ukpong, said the political appointees cannot be delegates or vote at the coming primaries except the law is amended.
He saipd: “So, there is no dilemma at all because the law must be followed to the letter. If they wanted political appointees to vote as delegates, what they should do is for the National Assembly to amend the law, if they amended it and the President has not signed it that means the law is not yet completed, so, we still fall back to what the law is at this stage.
“That law as it were, was not meant to help or punished anybody, it was the law of this country.
“On a final note, let me restate here that other delegates apart from the appointees will vote. So, if appointee wants to vote, they should resign.”
