Lekan Sowande, Abuja
The Leader of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele says the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022 would be concluded on or before December 2025, assuring Nigerians that the amendment would be used for the 2027 general elections.
Senator Bamidele, also representing Ekiti Central in the Senate, explained that the only reason the Muhammadu Buhari administration was unable to sign the last aspect of the electoral amendment Bill was because the National Assembly transmitted it late to the Presidency then.
Senator Bamidele disclosed this in a statement he made after the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio read President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to confirm Professor Joash Amupitan as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
President Tinubu had nominated Amupitan, a Professor of Law, after the Council of States unanimously approved his appointment as the new INEC chairman last Wednesday, following the exit of Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
After the Council of States unanimously approved Amupitan’s appointment, President Tinubu formally requested the upper chamber to confirm Amupitan as the chairman of the country’s electoral commission.
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Speaking on the review of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bamidele further assured Nigerians that the present review would scale through because relevant stakeholders, especially Nigerian Governors Forum and Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, were meaningfully engaged in the overriding public interests.
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Senator Bamidele, also Vice Chairman of the 1999 Constitution Review Committee in the Senate, dismissed speculations that the presidency would resist the effort of the National Assembly to successfully amend the grundnorm.
“I do not envisage that there will be any resistance because public institutions are working with the National Assembly for the successful review of the 1999 Constitution. In this amendment, global best practices will also be taken into consideration in the area of domestication of international treaties and agreements.”
On the issue of criticism by the opposition, Senator Bamidele noted that no matter how well a government was performing, the opposition would never agree that the government was doing well because they too were plotting to reclaim the presidency.
“Part of what they will love to see is to see the ruling party fighting on a daily basis, throwing out correspondences from the presidency or whatever is coming from the executive. That is what will make them happy. But our focus is on rebuilding Nigeria, stabilising our polity and growing our economy. And we will never be distracted from this goal.”
On the agenda of the 10th Senate for the third legislative year, Senator Bamidele said that the National Assembly “has a lot of issues to deal with in this session, ranging from the amendment of the 2022 Electoral Act to the review of the 1999 Constitution, among others.”