The National Assembly, on Thursday, dismissed a threat by the Minister of Justice and
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), that he would oppose
the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, if it was based on selfish interest.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public
Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, specifically dismissed Malami as a political
appointee, who could not speak for the President, Muhammadu Buhari, on
institutional matters like the bill.
Basiru was reacting to a recent interview granted by Malami
in which the minister said Buhari would not assent to the reworked bill, if its
provisions were considered to be of selfish interest.
The AGF had hinted that Buhari might withhold assent from the bill, if it was considered to have proposed laws based on personal interests.
According to the minister, the bill, which the National
Assembly transmitted to the Presidency the second time on Monday last week,
just got to him on Monday for legal advice.
When asked if he would advise the President to reject the
amended bill if he was not satisfied with the new version, Malami said,
“Certainly, if I am not satisfied and if I am of the opinion that it is against
the public interest, the national interest; and then against the dictates of
democratic process, I would advise accordingly.
“But then, one thing I can tell you is that we are all
interested in leaving behind a legacy of a lasting democracy; a democracy that
indeed accommodates the collective interest of the Nigerian state, and
eventually advances the national interest, national development and deepens the
democratic process.
“So, with these considerations associated with deepening
democracy; with the considerations associated with the national and public
interest, we will certainly do whatever it takes to move democracy to the next
level.”
Responding in a telephone interview with our correspondent
on Wednesday, Basiru said, “I cannot be responding to Malami. Let the President
talk and we will respond (to Buhari). I represent an institution, which is the
National Assembly. We are not on the same par. If the President speaks, then we
can respond as an institution.
“There are three arms of government: the executive headed by
the President; the National Assembly (legislature), and the judiciary. I speak
on behalf of the Senate, which is an institution, so I can’t be responding to
an appointee of the President; I can’t be responding to Malami. We can only
respond to correspondence from the President and authenticated by him (Buhari);
we cannot be responding to an appointee of the President. We are an
institution.”
Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs,
Benjamin Kalu, in his response, said the minister might need to define what he
meant by ‘selfish interest’. According to him, the parliament was guided by
national interest in the consideration and passage of the bill.
Kalu said, “I don’t know his definition of ‘selfish
interest’, of course, it is not a tool in making laws for the country. But
public interest is the instrument used in making laws, not selfish interest.
And the only way that you can measure public interest is through the steps
outlined by our laws, one of which is public hearing or stakeholders’
engagement.
“Another one is consensus or majority opinion of the
parliament on an issue, reflective of the opinion of the people that they
(lawmakers) represent. If the majority of those in the parliament are for a
particular position, it means that those who have asked them (lawmakers) to
represent them are speaking with one voice. That is how you measure public
interest.”
The House’ spokesman also stated that the opinions and
interests of the Independent National Electoral Commission, political parties,
governors, civil society organisations and other public stakeholders in the
bill could not have been considered to be selfish.
A senior official in the National Assembly, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, corroborated
the Senate’s spokesman, saying, “If he, as an appointee of the President, made
an observation, until that observation is formalised by the institution that he
represents, which is the Presidency, we cannot give much attention to it until
it comes from the institution.”
The source added, “If Mr. President finds out that there is
an element of selfish interest, he will communicate that to us and we will look
at it. Not that Malami will tell us, the President will communicate directly to
us.”
Recall that in December, the President had rejected the last
electoral bill mainly on the advice of Malami.
Recently, there were reports that some members of the cabal
in the Presidency were opposed to some provisions of the bill.
According to the reports, they are not comfortable with the
provision which mandates appointees to resign before the primaries of their
parties.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives had
reworked the electoral bill for the second time by concurring on consensus
candidacy and setting fresh conditions for political parties in the nomination
of candidates for elections.
Buhari, last year, had vetoed the electoral bill and sent it
back to the National Assembly over the restriction of political parties to
direct primary, insisting on the direct or indirect.
The House had amended Clause Section 87 of the Electoral Act
2010, which is Clause 84 of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, by inserting
the indirect primary option.
The Senate, however, not only added indirect primary, but
also consensus adoption of candidates for elections by a political party.
By passing different amendments to the bill, the Senate and
the House were expected to refer the versions to a conference committee to
harmonise the differences and report back for final passage and transmission to
the President for assent.
However, both the Senate and the House of Representatives
took a shorter route by rescinding their decisions on the amendments last week
and re-amending the electoral bill.
This time, the House concurred with the Senate on the
consensus, while both chambers passed the same conditions set for the option.
The President had
said in his interview with Channels TV on January 5, 2022, that he would sign
the bill once the mandatory direct primary clause was removed.
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