Electoral Act: Don’t override Buhari, Jega warns N/Assembly – Newstrends
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Electoral Act: Don’t override Buhari, Jega warns N/Assembly

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Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega

The National Assembly should not override the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over the stalemate on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has cautioned.

According to him, since 2010, the country have not had any substantive improvement on electoral laws, while in the 2021 Electoral Bill, there were a lot of substantive things.

Jega said this on Sunday night Abuja during a Citizens’ Town Hall meeting on Electoral Bill 2021 organised by Yiaga Africa and development partners.

At the event, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State highlighted the position of governors saying they were not against direct primaries.

Jega said, “With the way the provisions of the bill stand, the National Assembly should do the needful, rather than contemplating overriding the President by removing the contentious provisions.”

He said that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill contained quite a lot of good things that could enhance electoral integrity.

According to him, what was key was to give INEC the law to improve ahead of the 2023 general election and also the off-season elections before the 2023 polls.

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He said, “The challenge is what the National Assembly introduced in the Electoral Bill which is without serious contemplation. It is very important that we have a lot of legal framework.

“I think clearly that the electoral process would have better integrity if we do direct primaries appropriately.

“Any governor that manipulates direct primaries can also manipulate the primaries indirectly.”

He also said that INEC made 31 recommendations to the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act to conduct credible elections, but the National Assembly only approved 25 of the recommendations.

On his part, Sule said the 36 state governors “are not afraid of direct primaries as being alleged by some Nigerians.”

He said what they opposed was limiting the choices of the people.

“In the APC constitution, we have three options: consensus, direct primaries and indirect primaries.

“The option should be left open and it will not be a surprise that some parties may even adopt direct primaries,” Sule said.

He said that governors were happy with the contributions made into the bill and from what he had heard, everyone was saying the same thing, thus the issue of the direct primaries should be removed.

Sule said, “I am not the closest (person) to the President but working with the President all this while, I can say that President Buhari would sign the bill into law once the right things are done.”

Also, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Apata, said, “I am so disappointed with the way things have turned up. Everything about the Electoral Bill spelt progress but we can’t get it right if steps are not taken.

“Everything about the bill spells progress for the country. The bill should have been passed long ago. The President and the National Assembly being of the same party should have ironed this out to avoid this logjam.”

The NBA president also said that the booby trap set may catch up with the nation and send the country back to square zero.

He, therefore, urged the National Assembly to take out the provision of direct primaries and transmit immediately to the President for assent, who should be given the benefit of the doubt.

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The Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said the timely passage of the bill would be in the interest of deepening democracy and national development.

Itodo said the non-passage of the bill into law had robbed Nigerians the opportunity of implementing important innovations for the forthcoming FCT council election and the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

On her part, Samuela Isopi, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said getting the electoral laws right was in the interest of democratic development.

“What is good for Nigeria is good for the world”, she said.

On his part, the Executive Director, The Albino Foundation, Jake Ekpelle, said he had never voted till he was 58 years and now that he is 61, meaning that he had been disenfranchised for 58 years because the electoral law put it as INEC may not have taken care of PWDs’ interest.

He said, “Now that the new bill put “is” as ‘shall’, it means that INEC is being mandated to ensure that the PWDs are mainstreamed into the nation’s electoral system.

“I hope to see a time the PWDs would be elected deputy governors, governors, vice president and one day be elected the president of Nigeria,” he said.

Also, the National Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani, said the National Assembly didn’t carry political parties and other stakeholders along.

He said despite the advancement of democracy in the United States, it still operated delegate system and not direct primaries, hence the lawmakers should remove the contentious clauses.

On her part, a former presidential candidate, KOWA Party, Prof. Remi Sonaiya, said, “We should look beyond the letter and look at the spirit of the conduct of elections itself. I would like to join the cause to remove direct primaries clause, if that is the problem so the bill can be passed.”

The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said that time was running out and that the National Assembly must remove the controversial bits of the electoral bill, and get everything ready ahead of the 2023 elections.

He wondered why Nigeria was not keying into the ECOWAS and African Union resolutions that electoral law should be ready one year before elections.

Also, the Chairman of the Partners for Electoral Reform, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said, “There are some elite conspiracy around not giving Nigerians a law that can strengthen electoral integrity.

“The way it was done in the past was to delay the passage till when it was too late and Nigerians would be forced to say, after all we have something on the ground and the old law that didn’t help the nation’s democracy would be used”, Nwagwu said.

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dachung Bagus, said that consultants contracted for the job were responsible for some of the drafting errors in the bill.

“We apologise for the drafting errors and cross-referencing gaps sighted in the Electoral Bill 2021,” he said.

Also, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, wondered why the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who claimed to be a victim of electoral fraud before his eventual emergence as President, was now finding it difficult to ensure leaving a legacy of electoral development.

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Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore

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Peter Obi and Omoyele Sowore

Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore

Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, recently shared his reasons for not forming a coalition with Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate in the same election.

In his appearance on the Honest Bunch podcast, Sowore asserted that, in his view, Obi is similar to other Nigerian politicians, describing him as “better at packaging.”

Sowore explained that his own journey in politics began long before Obi gained national recognition, emphasizing his dedication to advocating for systemic change in Nigeria.

During the podcast, co-hosted by Nedu, Husband Material, Deity Cole, and Ezinne, Sowore highlighted his belief in challenging the status quo, which he feels differs significantly from Obi’s approach.

Sowore said, “Before you discovered Peter Obi, I was already running for president. All these shouts about Peter Obi… He just knows how to package. Anyone can do it.

“If I form a coalition with Peter Obi, I will be going against what I have always stood for, which is that I will never support a Nigerian leader who has held any political office — whether at the federal, state, or local level — if I consider them non-performing.

“It’s the same reason I would never have joined hands with Atiku. And the Peter Obi you’re talking about was a vice-presidential candidate to Atiku when I was a presidential candidate in 2019.

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“So, what are we talking about? There is no lesser evil in my book. If you are evil, you are evil. If you are good, you are good. I have a general disdain for non-performance.”

He added that there is no such thing as “emotional attachment” in his dictionary.

“There was a friend of mine who kept saying, he doesn’t care if Peter Obi is Igbo, but that it is the turn of the Igbos. But it is beyond that; I have a natural disdain for poor performance,” he explained.

Sowore insisted that while many may not know it, he knew Obi before and during his time as governor, and he backed him.

“I had always known and supported him and stood against his removal when (Olusegun) Obasanjo wanted to use Andy Ubah to replace him—the twists and turns then.

“However, when Peter Obi finished his term in Anambra, the question I asked him was whether he could send his child to any university he had built in Anambra—he was mute and could not respond.

“I also asked him if he could enter any hospital he built in Anambra, which he governed for eight years, even if it was for the slightest headache—there was also no response.”

Sowore went on to challenge the four anchors or any other Nigerians, saying, “If they can pack their bags and head to Anambra for a vacation.”

PUNCH Online reports that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress recorded 8,794,726 votes in the 2023 presidential election, followed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party who secured 6,984,520 votes.

In third place, Labour Party’s Obi garnered 6,101,533 votes, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party secured 1,496,687 votes.

Why I can’t form coalition with Peter Obi – Sowore

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Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group

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Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group

The Arewa Consensus for Jonathan, a political group in the North, has urged former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to enter the 2027 presidential race.

Jonathan, who served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, is widely regarded for his role in fostering democratic growth and his relatively peaceful exit from power after losing the 2015 election.
Despite his exit from politics, his name has remained a focal point in discussions about Nigeria’s future leadership.

The group’s leader, Munir Musa, who made the appeal during a press conference in Bauchi over the weekend, emphasised that Jonathan’s return to office was crucial to addressing Nigeria’s pressing economic and security challenges.

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He argued that Nigeria, grappling with severe economic downturns and rising security threats, needs a leader with Jonathan’s experience and competence to restore stability.

“The nation is at a crossroads, and we believe that Goodluck Jonathan is the right man to steer us out of the current malaise,” Musa told reporters.

He expressed confidence that Jonathan’s leadership could heal the country’s deepening wounds and usher in a new era of progress.

 

Why we want Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency – Northern group

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Afenifere, Council of Obas back Aiyedatiwa for Ondo gov

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Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa

Afenifere, Council of Obas back Aiyedatiwa for Ondo gov

Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political and cultural organization, has endorsed Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State.

Sehinde Arogbofa, a prominent Afenifere leader, announced the support at the Olubaka of Oka land palace, Oba Yusuf Adebori Adeleye.

Arogbofa expressed confidence in Aiyedatiwa’s leadership and encouraged him to follow the values and legacy of Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Ondo State’s first governor. “Afenifere stands firmly behind your mandate… Strive to make Ondo State great again,” Arogbofa said.

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Oba Adeleye, speaking on behalf of traditional rulers in Akoko South West Local Government Area, also endorsed Aiyedatiwa, citing his masses-focused policies and the governor’s initiative to allocate five percent of local government funds to traditional institutions as a demonstration of his commitment to their welfare.

“The Council of Obas has decided that Governor Aiyedatiwa is our candidate,” Oba Adeleye stated, pledging their support for Aiyedatiwa’s election campaign.

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