Shehu: Buhari’s Assent to Electoral Act Landmark Moment for Nigeria

* New legislation would revolutionise elections in Nigeria, says VON boss

Deji Elumoye and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has described last Friday’s assent to the Electoral Act 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari as a landmark moment for the nation.

This is just as the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu has said the new legislations in the Electoral Act would revolutionise elections in Nigeria.

Shehu in an opinion he wrote Sunday, said the back and forth on some controversial provisions underscored the perfect workings of a parliament and executive both driven by new energy to deliver change in a country where the people want to move in a different direction.

According to him, this of course runs parallel to that which Nigerians witnessed in the past when self-interest overrode the nation’s and the fashioning of electoral acts.

He said the law underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring free and fair elections, dignity of the citizens, opportunity and justice to all political participants whether they are voters or candidates.

Shehu also said the law furthers social empowerment and inclusion by limiting the influence of money on elections and raw power of incumbents to use to the disadvantage of opponents outside the political tent.
He added that the crucial changes to the law would benefit voters not parties, empower citizens not politicians, and strengthen our democracy as part of President Buhari’s legacy to the nation.

The Presidential spokesman said, “It equally limits the thuggish practice of kingpins who scare voters and officials away, snatch ballot boxes to fill desired outcomes against the popular wish. It is easy to forget that the election of 2015 was the first time in the history of Nigeria that power peacefully changed hands at the ballot box.

“It was the first time any party or candidate not from the incumbent PDP had won a nationwide contest since the re-establishment of democracy. This came despite the then administration pulling every lever of its sixteen-year incumbency to bend the electoral system to its advantage.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election by a 15 per cent and a 4 million vote margin in 2019 was therefore equally decisive: it was the first time a non-PDP administration had even been returned to office to a consecutive term.

“The last two contests represent the levelling of the political playing-field between long-time incumbents and long-time opposition by sheer force of citizens’ determination for change. Nigerians voted so decisively for the President and the APC, and the margins so significant that the result could not be in doubt.”

He stated further, “However, this is not a reason to ignore the fact there have been inadequacies in electoral law – and therefore electoral practice. No democratic system of elections is perfect: in every country that considers itself a democracy those laws must be subject to a continual process of improvement. Indeed, to stop being better is to stop being good.

“The Electoral Act makes better and makes good on the circumstance in which every citizen casts their ballot. It ensures that the ballot is fair and free, and that every vote cast is equal, respected, and counts.

“For this to be so, the Act was drafted in concert with and through the collaborative consultation of civil society NGOs, labour unions, the media, and the Independent National Electoral Commission itself and not merely by politicians with a vested interested in the rules under which they stand for public office. It empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission by assuring their funding by law well in advance of the election season.

“It addresses the unfortunate fact that some polling station results in the past have been declared under duress: now with the power to review any results announced under such circumstances enshrined in law, it makes the use of coercive behavior counterproductive.

“The Act also addresses the misuse of appointed political office as a platform and source of resources from which to campaign for elected political office. In the coming days or weeks, the parliament and the executive should reach a common ground on the issue raised by the President at the point of signing the law, which is the requirement for appointed political office holders to first resign before being eligible to vote or stand for election in the primaries for elective offices.”

Meanwhile, Okechukwu, in a statement yesterday, said through the strokes of his signature-pen in enacting the law, President Muhammadu Buhari has bequeathed to Nigerians an Electoral Act that empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy Smart Card Reader, Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other technological devices for electoral fidelity.

Okechukwu said: “The coming into force of Electoral Act 2022 marks a significant turning point in Nigeria’s journey towards electoral reforms, reinforced democratic rights, higher voters turn out and consolidation of democracy, stressing that by signing the bill into law, the President has given lovers of democracy a booster shot of Vote-Rigging-Vaccine (VRV).”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain noted that contrary to insinuations by naysayers, who according to him, like Joseph Goebbels of Nazi Germany, “kept on telling the big lie and fake news that Buhari will not sign the bill and those who believed them,” the president proved them wrong by endorsing the VRV, a crucial piece of electoral legislation.

He stressed that henceforth, Nigerians would be less attracted by stomach infrastructure or vote buying and need not protest or demonstrate against misrule, maintaining that with the Vote-Rigging-Vaccine (VRV) strengthened by black ink of the law, Nigerians can now troop out to voting booths on election day with confidence that their votes would vote out bad leaders.
Okechukwu stated: “By virtue of the Electoral Act 2022, the VRV offers electronic accreditation and electronic transmission of results. These voter empowerment machines combined to revolutionise free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria. Electronic Transmission of results is the key element in the Act and will automatically boost voter turnout to 60 per cent in future elections.

“Electronic transmission is the lofty milestone and indeed, comes as one of the progressive legacies of Mr President who, as a victim of vote-rigging has always craved for a law instrument that contains progressive provisions to knock out thuggery during accreditation, voting and collation processes.”
Against this background, Okechukwu noted that the battle between leaders and the led over accountability had shifted to the ballot box.

The VON boss appealed to INEC to put its acts together so as to give life to the VRV; the ultimate instrument of voter empowerment and democratic resurgent in Nigeria.

He cautioned the political parties to beware of the Electoral Act which he described as a searchlight on their commitment to internal democracy and building of a united and inclusive country.