THE controversy over the provisions of the new Electoral Act, particularly the power the court and the election tribunal should wield over elections, again, came to the fore yesterday.
While the old electoral law grants the two judicial bodies power to nullify election and give the mandate to the authentic winner, the leadership of the National Assembly yesterday disclosed that courts and tribunals in the country have been stripped of the power by the amended Electoral Act.
Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole made the revelation at different fora in the country.
While speaking at the opening of a two-day National Summit on Free and Fair Elections organised by The Nation in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, Mark said the judiciary should rise to the challenge of dispensing with electoral cases before a supposed winner is declared. This, he said, would prevent a situation whereby almost three months into a four-year tenure, somebody is still losing his seat.
According to him, it was in response to this kind of anomaly that the National Assembly decided to amend the Electoral Act to remove the power of the court to declare a winner because, “we believe that for someone to be declared a winner of an election, he/she must seek the mandate of the people, unlike what we had before when people who did not participate in elections got into office through the court pronouncement. It would no longer work.”
Mark’s revelation was corroborated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole who spoke at the PDP presidential rally in Akure, the Ondo State capital. Bankole told the crowd of PDP members that attended the rally that a new law has been passed by the National Assembly “that has made what happened in Ondo State after the last election, impossibility again in Nigeria.”
“We have passed a law, and in the new Electoral Act, the court has no power to send a sitting governor away because of irregularities in an election that brought him to office. The worst that could happen is a rerun. And PDP will win again and again.”
The House of Representatives Speaker had accompanied President Goodluck Jonathan to the rally where Jonathan said despite the fact that he possesses “enormous presidential powers that could be used to truncate the wish of the people”, he would never use such in the forthcoming presidential elections or at anytime.
At the event, scores of politicians from the ruling Labour Party (LP) and other political parties declared for the PDP.
A close associate of the state governor, Chief Segun Ojo who is a former Commissioner for Finance in the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati administration and Pastor Yele Omogunwa, the immediate past Commissioner for Works in the Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration were among hundreds that defected to the PDP at the colourful rally.
According to the president, “I know the enormity of the powers of the president and myself and Architect Sambo, my running mate; we will never use such power in a way to give ourselves undue advantage in the coming polls.
“Power should be used for bringing development to the people and creating happiness among the population. In the coming elections, we will not use state apparatus to the disadvantage of the other contestants. We are going to have one man, one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote, so that the vote of Nigerians will count.”
Addressing a big crowd of party faithful and PDP leaders drawn from the national as well the South West zone at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Arcade at the Ondo State capital, Jonathan said his government would focus on youth development “so that our youths would not take up arms against the state.”
The president also promised “to bring into reality, in the next four years, the dream of economic exploitation of the vast tar sands and bitumen deposits in Ondo State. This is a new area, apart from the fresh support that we are going to give to agro-based industries. I say this because I know these are areas that will interest you the people of Ondo State.”
Jonathan who was also on the same mission to Ekiti State was received at the Akure Airport by the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who went inside the aircraft to have a meeting with the President before the latter moved in a long convoy to Ado-Ekiti where he said his administration is determined to stop all forms of exploitation and enslavement in the offering of employment to the Nigerian youths.
He said the era in which Nigerian youths are being enslaved by employers of labour was over, assuring that acceptable condition of service should henceforth be stated in the cause of employment. And to underscore his determination to create more jobs for the youths, he said out of 150 million population, youths that constitute about 70 per cent are below age 30, disclosing that N50 billion had been set aside in 2011 budget to facilitate employment for the youths.
“Nigerian economy is youth-driven. Over 70 per cent of the 150 million Nigerian population are under 30, also, over 50 per cent of the population are under 19, so you can now realise that we need to do enough to help the youths of this country. Youth empowerment is part of the cardinal objectives of this administration,” the President said.
Speaking at the Goodluck Jonathan/Sambo campaign rally in Ado Ekiti, President Jonathan assured Nigerians that he would help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove all impediments that could prevent it from allowing the votes of Nigerians count in the forthcoming general elections. According to him, “We will ensure one man, one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote.” He threatened that whoever stands on the way of free, fair and credible elections in 2011 will face the full wrath of the law.
The President who came aboard a Presidential Chopper marked NAF 514 at about 10.45a.m. immediately headed for the Palace of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi where he acknowledged the state as not only being the “fountain of knowledge, but a home of knowledge”, the reason he said the Federal Government agreed to site a new university in the state. But Jonathan was silent on where the university has been located between the two feuding communities, Oye and Ikole Ekiti.
President Jonathan was accompanied to Ekiti State by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Prof. Hammed Rufai, Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Na’Abba, former Bauchi State Governor Adamu Muazu, and a business tycoon, Jimoh Ibrahim.
The President said he would partner with all relevant agencies to harness the agrarian nature of Ekiti State to open up the flank for semi and mechanized farming in the state to engender a paradigm shift from subsistence farming to a reliable modern agricultural practices.
The Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade, had earlier requested for the ceding of 15 per cent political appointments to the youths to strengthen the future of the country.
At the rally, Daniel said the pairing of the two personalities, Jonathan and Sambo remains the best for the country.
The Guardian
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