Former governorship candidate in Rivers State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress has described as a landmark achievement, President Buhari assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The APC chieftain in a statement on Friday said the singular act has restored sovereignty in the electoral process to ordinary Nigerians as he noted that political parties would be wary of imposing unpopular candidates since the votes of the electorate would count.
Princewill advised the National Assembly to take expeditious action in expunging the contentious Section 84(12) of the electoral Act which stipulates that anyone holding a political office – ministers, commissioners, special advisers and others – must relinquish the position before they can be eligible to participate in the electoral process either as a candidate or as a delegate.
His statement read in part:” If I was to say I told you so, I would be suggesting I knew for a face beforehand that the President would sign the bill. What I knew was the President had the interest of Nigerians at heart and he was keen on putting in place a more significant improvement on how we conducted elections when compared to what he met in 2015. With the signing of this bill, he has done that.
“Two observations come to mind. One, the election date will have to be shifted to meet the clause that has imposed on INEC a 360 day timeline to announce the date of elections to the office of President. The other implication is public office holders will have to resign before they contest a primary. That is in contravention with the constitution, as the President has pointed out, so either the lawmakers will amend it or candidates will go to court to challenge it if they are denied the privilege of contesting an election on the grounds that they have not resigned. That leaves it in the hands of the Supreme Court and my money is on the side of public office holders to win, if the National Assembly refuse to heed the advice of their President.
“But make no mistake, this is a historic day in the affairs of our politics. Our Political parties would now be best advised to only chose candidates who are popular with their people. Otherwise Nigerians will do it for them.”
In his reaction, an aspirant for the office of national chairman, Saliu Mustapha said “President Buhari has proved doubters wrong, by his presidential assent.
“President Buhari’s democratic credentials have never been in doubt. It became even more pronounced when he argued that political parties should not be restricted only to direct primaries and insisted on other options.
“So now that that aspect was taken care of, it was not a surprise that the President had to do some more consultations to ensure that every other aspect of the new law is in line with the ideals of democracy before giving his assent.
“I am convinced that just like President Buhari said in his speech at the signing, the amendments would ‘improve and engender clarity, effectiveness and transparency of the election process, as well as reduce to the barest minimum incidences of acrimony arising from dissatisfied candidates and political parties’.
“As for the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had been sowing seeds of discord in the mind of unsuspecting Nigerians, I hope the Presidential assent has now shut them up.
The Turaki of Ilorin also expressed hope that the two chambers of the National Assembly would take heed of the advice handed down by the President on clause 84 of the new Electoral Act