- Technology, new media fostering misinformation, threatening societies — Gbajabiamila
- Says NASS may remove clause, pass bill after recess
- NASS, Presidency should go back to drawing board, says ex-ACF scribe, Anthony Sani
- Cut short your vacation, return to work, PDP tasks NASS
- Gbaja’s position not surprising — Northern Elders, Ohanaeze
- 9th NASS rubber stamp — PANDEF
- Posterity’ll judge NASS — Arewa Youths
- NASS may lose goodwill of Nigerians — CAN, CNG
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday, said the National Assembly inserted the direct primaries clause into the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to ensure that people participate in elections.
Gbajabiamila, who was not categorical on whether or not the lawmakers would override President Muhammadu’s Buhari veto of the bill on account of the direct primaries clause, however, assured Nigerians that the National Assembly will revisit the Electoral Act amended bill, and ensure that an an amended electoral is in place for future polls.
According to him, if the lawmakers muster the two-thirds majority to override President Buhari’s veto, they would do so after their recess or in the alternative remove the direct primaries clause, and pass the bill into law.
He said this during the commissioning of some projects including the Obele Mini Stadium, Dosunmu Road, Adedoyin Road, Ojikutu, Ishola Road by Randle, Rasaq Balogun Mini Stadium and the Razaq Balogun Road, Adeniran Ogunsanya in Surulere, Lagos.
The speaker spoke as torrents of reactions trailed his comment, and the way the National Assembly is handling the issue with some eminent Nigerians and groups asking the legislators to cut short their recess to tackle the issue.
He said the President refused to sign the bill based on advice but insisted that the direct primaries clause was meant to ensure Nigerians participated in the electoral process.
The speaker said: “If you followed the history of the amendment of the direct and indirect primary bill, I initiated that amendment bill for a good reason and it is for people to participate in elections. These are the people you see around when you campaign every four years come rain, come shine.
“For me, it does not make sense that these people do not have a voice in who represents them. It is part of being used and I didn’t like that.
“Most of us are reformers and one of the ways to reform the system is to make it more accountable and to make the people have a voice in who represents them as opposed to a few people sitting in the four corners of a wall and writing results. That is what the amendment was all about. Again, there is a process.
“The president has, in his wisdom, rejected it and I believe he did it with good intentions based on the advice that he got. He weighed everything. Again, maybe times are different. He has people who advised him and I guess they advised him against the amendment bill.
“There is a process. When we come back, as I said, the House will look at those amendments. We will sit as the National Assembly, look at the reasons and at that point, consider removing that clause and pass the bill so that we do not do away with the baby and the bath water.
“But then, it is not my decision to make. It is the decision of the National Assembly, if they determine that the reasons are not good enough, then, there is a process prescribed by the constitution.”
Asked if the National Assembly would veto the bill, he said: “Which way the sword is going to fall I have no idea until that time. I cannot read the minds of the whole National Assembly members. They need two-thirds of the member to override the president, there is a reason the constitution prescribes two-thirds. Veto is not something you easily override.
“If they muster enough and they believe it is in the best interest of Nigerians, then, that is what we will do; otherwise, we will take out the clause and pass the bill so that Nigerians can have a credible electoral act and due process. They must get it.”
I’ll continue to do more for my constituency
Speaking on the projects and the impact they will have on his constituents, the Speaker said: “My job as a legislator is to represent those who voted me in and those that did not and that is what I have been striving to do for years even before I became speaker. We thank God for what we have been able to do, we made promises and we delivered. To me, this is what I call the real dividends of democracy. It tells you the difference it will make to the youths. When I was campaigning, I told the people what I was going to do. I saw the state of the roads and stadium and when I came in, that is what I did. We will continue to do more because it is never enough.”
Cut short your vacation, return to work, PDP tasks NASS
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has urged members of the National Assembly to cut short their vacation and return to work on the Electoral Act amendment bill, preparatory to its resubmission for Presidential assent.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, in a telephone chat with Vanguard, enjoined the lawmakers to place national interest above personal consideration and return to work, adding that a week is enough to get a clean copy back to the President.
He said: “We urge the federal lawmakers to do the needful in the interest of Nigerians. The aspect concerning direct primaries which Mr. President cited should be reviewed so that a new, clean copy can be transmitted to him for assent.
“We must not forget that the electronic transmission of election results is contained in this act and this Nigerians believe, will address manipulation of results.
“This is not the first time legislators would be cutting short their holiday to converge for serious national issues. They did this in 2012 during the subsidy debate. They are the representatives of the people and we urge them to return and work on those clauses Mr. President expressed reservations about. We believe one week is enough to achieve this.
“We hereby called on the media, civil society organizations and the international community to mount pressure on the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government to save the nation’s democracy by giving us a new Electoral Act ahead of the 2023 elections.”
NASS, Presidency should go back to drawing board -Anthony Sani
Immediate past Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Anthony Sani, advised both the executive and legislative arms controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to go back to the drawing board and sort out their differences because Nigerians knew what they wanted and gave the APC electoral mandate with clear majority in the National Assembly.
“If the government and the National Assembly controlled by the APC have resolved their differences in favour of removal of the direct primary from the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021 in order to remove the impression that the APC has no position on this important issue and is divided, so be it. There is nothing Nigerians can do, considering the National Assembly functions in representative capacity,” he said.
NASS may lose goodwill of Nigerians – CNG
Spokesperson of the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, Suleiman Abdulaziz, said the Speaker’s unclear position was expected. “It is quite unfortunate though not unexpected. No one would reasonably expect they will do otherwise. But since a vast majority of Nigerians are in support of especially the direct primaries option, the legislators stand to lose whatever remains of the goodwill they enjoy from the public.
‘’This should also serve as a lesson for the Nigerian voter to be critical with his commitment to the future leadership selection processes. Nigerians must review their choices from that of electing leaders that are served by the community to one that elects leaders that will serve the community.”
Nigerians may no longer trust NASS if … – CAN
Reacting, Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the Northern states and Abuja, Rev.Joseph John Hayab hoped the story about the National Assembly considering to remove the direct primary clause after recess is simply a rumour.
“I will give the Legislature benefit of the doubt but if it is true then it is a confirmation that Nigeria legislatures are not people’s representatives but representatives of their god- fathers. Our legislators should know that the percentage of Nigerians who are happy with that clause outnumber those against it and Nigerians are praying to see an end to politics of god-fatherism. But it seems since it was the same system that brought many of our representatives they will never want it to die, which now makes our democracy to be a government of the few by the few and for the few,” he said.
Gbaja’s position not surprising – Northern Elders, Ohanaeze
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said he would be surprised if the National Assembly overrides President Buhari’s assent.
‘’Naturally, in a democracy, there is separation of powers among the three arms of government – Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. When the Executive controls the Legislature there is no more separation of powers. That is what we are seeing now. It is expected,” he said.
Indeed, the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, said it would not be surprising if the National Assembly leadership failed to override President Buhari’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.
The Forum’s Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, described the Speaker’s position as an act of betrayal which will likely aggravate the cynicism about the genuineness of the nation’s political system.
Baba-Ahmed said, “If the NASS has decided to join the President in defying a popular demand, no one should be surprised. It is in the character of both arms of government. Our democracy works for elected people, not for those who elected them.
“The prospects for allowing slight change in improvements in the electoral process will now disappear, and popular cynicism about the genuineness of our system will gain ground. History will record this betrayal as the ‘shining legacy’ of our current leaders.”
9th assembly rubber stamp, we don’t expect them to override Buhari — PANDEF
The Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, said that the present 9th National Assembly does not have the will to override President Buhari, saying the development confirms feelings of Nigerians that the assembly was rubber stamp.
The National Publicity Secretary of PANDEF, Hon Ken Robinson, in Port Harcourt yesterday, said: “PANDEF has said that this 9th National Assembly does not have the audacity to confront the president. We know that this is how it’s going to be. Some have tagged them rubber stamp assembly and that is what they have continued to play out.
“The first national assembly in this democratic journey in 1999 was strong. When President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to assent the Niger Delta Development Commission bill, they vetoed the president by two thirds majority of the National Assembly.
“We didn’t expect that this National Assembly will override the president. And what the speaker said goes to confirm the feelings of Nigerians about them.
“The president gave reasons he didn’t assent the bill and there are even insinuations that that clause on direct primaries was deliberately inserted to be a fly in the oil to cause contentions and disaffection for the president not to assent to the bill.
“You know that they were reluctant to include the provision of electronic transmission of results. People are not sincere and that is the problem with Nigeria. If we must have a free fair credible election we must have enabling structures and laws to ensure that that happens. “
Posterity’ll judge National Assembly – Arewa Youths
In his reaction, President of the Arewa Youth Forum, AYF, Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, said Nigeria’s democracy is in a critical stage and its survival or otherwise depends largely on the action or inaction of the National Assembly.
His words: “We therefore appeal to the lawmakers not to allow personal interest to override National interest. The National Assembly is the bastion of democracy. Election is also the most important aspect in a democracy. Posterity will judge the 9th Assembly on how they manage the controversy surrounding the signing or not of the Electoral bill by Mr. President.”
Vanguard
