A coalition of 24 election monitoring groups under the aegis of the Coalition of Election Monitors and Observers (CEMO), Monday, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against signing the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022.
The coalition said signing the document days before the crucial party primaries to elect Presidential candidates would be a disservice to Nigeria’s democracy.
National Convener of CEMO, Dr. Idris Yabu, stated this yesterday, while presenting a report after the meeting of the coalition, 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.
The CEMO noted that though the amendment is desirable, signing the bill after most political parties have 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 furthersaid, “It is now too late since political parties have already commenced activities for the 2023 elections under the provisions of the extant law”.
The election monitors equally noted that President Buhari ought to have signed the Bill earlier to give political parties a uniform direction for the nomination of candidates for the 2023 general elections, adding that signing the amendment at this time “would amount to “changing the rules in the middle of the game and disjointing the entire electoral process”.
According to the group, “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 disrupting the entire electoral process.
“The 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”, it further added.
Some political parties have in recent times brought pressure to bear on the president to assent to the amendment to current Section 84 (8), which provides that delegates to vote at the indirect primaries and National Convention of political parties to elect candidates for elections shall be those democratically elected for that purpose only.
The implication is that statutory delegates, such as elected political office holders, political appointees and executive officers of political parties are not eligible to vote at primaries to nominate candidates for the 2023 general election.
The new Section 84 has in effect drastically pruned the number of delegates for party indirect primaries and reduced the financial implications of delegate elections.
