Section of Electoral Act 2022 imposes N.5m for disorderly behaviour at political meetings

Henceforth, any person or member of a political party that derailed the party from transacting its business other than its planned agenda for advancing the party would incur the wrath of the law, Electoral Act 2022 has said.

The Act stipulated that no disorderly conduct capable of any form of derailment, that would deny a political party from its objective for the day’s meeting to advance democracy would be tolerated.

Section 116 of the Electoral Act 2022 stated that: “Any person who, at a political meeting, acts or incites another to act in a disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the transaction of the business for which the meeting was convened,” was liable to the penalty prescribed for such action by the Electoral Act 2022.

It stated further that any person who, at a political meeting, has in his possession an offensive weapon or missiles, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of ₦500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both,” the law averred.

Chairman, Action Democratic Party and National President, Inter Party Advisory Council of Nigeria, Sani Yabagi said the law should have been stiffer for such offenders.

According to him, the law was appropriate however called for effective implementation of the Act to regulate excesses of some political party members.

In an exclusive interview with Tribune Online, Yabagi said: “You know, there is no party that self-regulates itself in the context of the electoral law, the constitution of this country and the fact that you have a regulatory agency itself as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that always gives us the rule and regulations that we must follow in bringing out our candidates, in campaigns and rules that we must follow.

“I do not see any self regulatory environment for political parties, the question whether it undermined the authority of the management of the party, I do not think so.

“If we look at what has been happening, truly and sincerely, I wish that the penalty prescribed would be stiffer, that is what I would have asked for.

“People deliberately want to come and destabilize the party for their own selfish interest and nothing happens, no consequence. Introducing this punishment would discourage such incidents. I think it is a good thing.

“We will only ask for implementation to be very effective because in most cases, it is not that we do not have laws but enforcement of laws is what really becomes absent.

“In this particular case, If the law will be enforced as stated in the electoral Act, it will be a very welcome development,” the Chairman of Action Democratic Party told Tribune Online.

Another member of Inter Party Advisory Council and chairman of the Action People’s Party, Barr. Uchenna Nnadi, said the law would enthrone sanity in political parties and serve as deterrence to troubleshooters, its sponsors and cohorts who are bent on destabilizing party programmes and objectives.

“I think the punitive measure is okay, it will bring sanity to the political party.

“The political party should observe and rule and order, disrupting political party meetings should be frowned at, where one is aggrieved and feared that the outcome of the meeting and tries to disrupt the meeting through violence such action should be penalized.

“It does not undermine political party from from regulating its members, already all political parties have sanctions for defaulters could be suspension or expulsion but when you disrupt a political meeting through violence a pasty can not effectively penalized such action, so it is apt to be codified in the new electoral Act,” Nnadi said.

Many have hailed the new Electoral law since it was passed by the President in February, political parties would be meeting ahead of the 2023 elections to comply with the Electoral Act 2022 ahead of the general elections in February 2023.

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