The Inter-Party Advisory Council in Nigeria IPAC has urged the National Assembly not to truncate some sections of the electronic electoral amendment bill 2021.
Recently, the 298 chambers of the National Assembly passed the electoral act amendment bill with the provision that the transmission of election results by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, be subjected to the clearance of Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, which is seen as unconstitutionally.
Although the bill is yet to be formally signed into law by the Nigerian President President Muhammadu Buhari, the IPAC National Publicity Secretary, Major Agbo, told Voice of Nigeria in Abuja Nigeria’s Capital, that the omission of some sections of the e-voting amendment bill by some federal Law Makers “is a coup against Nigerians” who desire and deserve credible elections.
Mr Major called on “President Buhari not to assent his signature to the bill as doing so would amount to disservice to Nigerians.”
He further stated that “assenting to the bill by the President would also turned the several meetings by stakeholders’ and public hearings on the matter with National Assembly legislators to mere jamborees.
“What they are trying to harmonise to pass to the President is a dislocated and disorganised bill and therefore we are urging the President not to assent his signature to it” he said.
The IPAC spokesperson said that; “The IPAC had done it’s bid by presenting to the lawmakers what we think would solve electoral matters but they haven’t passed what we asked them to pass which was the voice of the people which they didn’t listen, we gave them a very comprehensive proposal that was supposed to bring into stream complete electronic voting but because of greed and negative desire to remain in power, they did what would favour them refusing to listen to the voice of the people.
“it is for this reason that we are asking the President to do the right thing by not assenting his signature to the bill”
The electoral amendment act had been dragged on since 2018 and on three occasions the President declined his assent to the bill saying his decisions were taken in the best interest of the country.
Suzan O
