President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the House of Representatives, seeking amendment of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Amendment Act 2022.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, read the President’s letter to the lawmakers during plenary in Abuja, yesterday.
Recall that Buhari, while signing the 2022 electoral amendment bill on February 25, 2022, complained that the provision constituted fundamental defect, saying it was in conflict with extant constitutional provisions.
According to the president, Section 84 (12) constitutes a disenfranchisement of serving political office holders from voting or being voted for at conventions or congresses of any political party.
This, he said, was for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election in cases where it holds earlier than 30 days to the National Election.
The section read: “No political appointee at any level shall be 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.”
Buhari stated that the provision introduced qualification and disqualification criteria that ultra vires the Constitution by way of importing blanket restriction and disqualification.
This he said was basically for serving political office holders of which they were constitutionally accorded protection.
“It is imperative to note that the only constitutional expectation placed on serving political office holders that qualify by extension as public officers within the context of the constitution is resignation.
“Others he said were; withdrawal or retirement, at least, 30 days before the date of the election.
“Hence, it will be stretching things beyond the constitutional limit to import extraneous restriction into the Constitution on account of practical application of Section 84(12) of the bill”, Buhari said.
This, according to him, is where political parties’ conventions and congresses were to hold earlier than 30 days to the election.
However, Buhari is asking for the amendment of the bill to reflect the spirit of the Constitution.
Buhari requested that the Nationally Assembly considered immediate amendments that would bring the bill in tune with constitutionality by way of deleting Section 84(12) accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court on March 7, stopped Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly from tampering with the newly amended Electoral Act 2022.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling on an ex parte application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), agreed that the Electoral Act had become a valid law and could not be tampered with without following due process.
Ekwo held that the proper place to challenge validity of any existing law was in a court of competent jurisdiction.
A member of the House of Reps, Herma Hembe, (APC-Benue), however, reminded the House on the ruling of the court.
Meanwhile, the Senate has insisted that it is going ahead to amend the Electoral Act 2022 as amended despite an interim order restraining the National Assembly from tampering with the Act pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The National Assembly is of the view that the Constitution conferred on it the right to make and amend laws and therefore, court orders cannot prevent it from carrying out this constitutional function.
This is coming as the Senate responded to the ruling of the Federal High Court restraining the National Assembly from amending the new Electoral Act 2022.