A coalition of civil society organizations on Sunday called on the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ignore the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and give assent to the electoral act amendment bill.
The CSOs made the call in a statement issued by the Executive Director, Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, and endorsed by the Centre for Liberty, Raising New Voices, and Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative.
They said they are praying for the president to break the deadlock on the electoral bill and reckon with history.
The CSOs recalled that the president had promised to sign the electoral act.
According to them, the president was emphatic in an interview on national television last month that he would sign the bill if the National Assembly reworked the legislation and expanded the procedure for nomination of candidates.
They noted that the National Assembly transmitted the Electoral Bill 2022 to the president for assent on January 31 after reworking it to meet his expectations.
The group stated, “We hope President Buhari and his aides have seen the trending video of the commitment he made to sign the electoral bill based on conditions that have been met by the National Assembly.
“We hope that the President will rise above sentiment, petty politics, and the misadvice of his Attorney General, to honour his words and protect his name.
We make bold to say that the two clauses on consensus and resignation of political appointees are in tandem with best practices and Nigeria’s evolving political economy.
“President Buhari has the prerogative to propose further amendments to the Electoral Bill 2022 after assent has been granted as he did in the case of the Petroleum Industry Bill and 2022 Appropriation bill.”
“Mr President must allow his bitter experience for approaching the courts on three consecutive occasions over faulty elections propel him to sign the electoral bill and leave the country’s electoral process better than he met it.”
“While the President has been condemning the activities of coup plotters in other countries, we sincerely hope that here in Nigeria he will sign the electoral act and help to avert those things that made democracy distasteful in those countries,” the statement read.
Copyright PUNCH.
