The coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) led by a former Presidential Aspirant of Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 election, Prof Kingsley Moghalu on Tuesday warned the National Assembly to jettison any plan to pass the purported “water-down” the Electoral (Amendment) bill.
The CSOs’ peaceful protest took place barely one hour before the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila announced that the House will pass the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill, Electoral Act and N895.8 billion Supplementary Budget within two weeks.
Speaking during the protest, the Founder of ‘To Build The Nation Civil Society’, Prof. Moghalu, who argued that “time is far running out’, called for expedite action on the passage of the Electoral Act (amendment) bill before the National Assembly, argued that “even angels will have a problem operating a defective system.”
Prof Moghalu who was a Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 election, urged the 9th Assembly to: “do what is necessary so that history will record that our Legislators answered the people at a time of need. The legislators are representing the Nigerian people, the Nigerian people are choking from the absence of real democracy, which has led to bad governance in our country.
“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. If the people cannot exercise their franchise in a transparent way and our votes don’t count and are not counting, then democracy in Nigeria is simply democracy by name only. It is time to make our democracy real and choose its leaders transparently as we go into the 21st century. Many people, especially young people in this country simply do not want to vote because they have no trust in the electoral process.
“How can we have a country that calls itself democratic in which most of its citizens, the young population represent most of the Nigerian population, simply have become disillusioned? They don’t want to participate in our election. There are people who are agitating for succession because there is no trust in the system,” Prof Moghalu noted.
On his part, Co-Convener of Center For Liberty, Comrade Ariyo-Dare Atoye blamed the 9th Assembly for the irregularities that trailed the just concluded party primaries ahead of the Anambra governorship election.
“What happened in Anambra during the conduct of the party primaries, what we saw in Anambra would not have been cured and addressed if this bill has been passed and INEC did make that clear this morning. So what happened in Anambra State where the party couldn’t conduct free, fair primaries, we blamed the National Assembly for what happened in Anambra State.
“The National Assembly is responsible for the bad conduct of primaries that we witnessed in Anambra State and they must take that blame. But we don’t want it to go beyond that; that is why we don’t want this same bad conduct to repeat itself during the Governorship election on November 6, 2021. So it is important for the National Assembly to take this into account.”
While stressing that the non-passage of the Electoral bill further poses a great threat to national security, Comrade Atoye, noted that a lot of Nigerians have died in the course of the conduct of elections, adding that: “If we have free and fair elections, no Nigerians will die. For us to avoid the death of Nigerians, to avoid injuries and malpractices which are elements to the threat of national security, then we must ensure that the electoral ecosystem, the electoral climate is conducive enough for people to exercise their franchise.
“Therefore, this National Assembly must understand that the passage of this bill is a service to the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it’s a service to humanity and will translate to good governance. We have been here every day, every night asking the National Assembly to pass the bill. This is about the third time this National Assembly has failed based on its own promises to pass this bill, but let it not fail again therefore we are asking that this National Assembly should pass this bill before embarking on the long recess in July.
While calling on the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabimaila to demonstrate courage by ensuring the passage of the Electoral bill, Comrade Atoye vowed that the Coalition will not hesitate to mobilise Nigerians for the #OccupyNASS2 with a view to compelling the National Assembly to pass the bill.
While reeling out the Coalition’s position, Ms Maruam Ahmed expressed grave concern over the refusal of the 9th National Assembly from passing the Electoral Act (Amendment) 2021 Bill despite various appeals, rallies and protests from the Nigerian people in support of this piece of legislation.
“The National Assembly must agree that elections remain the most critical aspect of democracy the world over. It has become inevitable that we must address the deficits in the electoral system to entrench enduring electoral reforms and strengthen the capacity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair, credible and transparent elections and guarantee electoral integrity.
“Electoral Reforms now represent a major Citizens Charter of Demand to the National Assembly for good governance and charismatic leadership. Eleven years after the Electoral Act 2010 was passed with subsequent amendments, Nigerians are eager to have Electoral Act 2021 (Repeal and Re-enactment) that will be tested and perfected in off-cycle elections before 2023.
“Citizens’ participation in the electoral process is necessary for democratic sustenance. But, the seeming refusal (in the guise of deliberate delays) by the 9th National Assembly to pass the Electoral Act (Amendment) will bring about an increased trust deficit in the electoral space and increase voter apathy.
“More so, it is not news that Nigerians are losing trust in the electoral process as this is evident in the continuous decrease in voter turnout as compared to the number of those who show interest to vote by registering for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) during the Continuous Voter Registration Exercise organised by INEC.
“While INEC succeeded in increasing the number of registered voters to 84 million in 2019, only about 29 million voted – signifying a mere 35% of the registered voters voted in the past election! Thus, these statistics should be a source of concern to representatives of the people and direct beneficiaries of the electoral system like your humble self.
“More importantly, at this time, the unity of the Nigerian state is seriously challenged by separatists and secessionists drive due to injustice, poor governance, and made worse by bad leadership; Nigeria cannot afford another flawed general election. That is why the countdown to 2023 and other off-cycle polls, has required a greater certainty about the electoral legal framework for achieving a more credible and improved electoral process.
“The passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) 2021 Bill will help quell the civil unrest caused by these secessionist groups that feel marginalized and are working tooth and nail to ensure that the country splits,” Ms Ahmed noted.
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