The last is yet is to be heard about President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the amended Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly, as 75 political parties are set to meet to decide whether or not to boycott the 2019 general election.
Although the political parties under the aegis of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) had earlier threatened to boycott the election should the President fail to sign the bill, BusinessDay gathered that some members of the Council had insisted that another meeting be called on the next line of action.
Confirming the development to BusinessDay, Chairman of IPAC, Peter Ameh, revealed that a General Assembly of IPAC will be called any moment from now.
While expressing displeasure at the President’s refusal to sign the bill into law, Ameh said this could jeopardise the chances of other political parties winning the forthcoming election.
On whether IPAC has changed its earlier stance of boycotting the polls, Ameh who doubles as National Chairman of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), said: “Our position hasn’t changed. We have not called for a General Assembly. You know the decision (to boycott the election) is beyond me. I am just the chairman of the Council. And then there is a General Assembly because one of the ingredients for multi-party democracy is for the other new political parties to have the opportunity to participate in an election and also win. Because if you are participating in an election that is on an unfair footing that does not create level playing field for everybody, then there is that tendency that other parties might not rear their heads successfully at the end of the election.
“Any game that is to be played, there must be an unbiased referee. And for us if this legal framework is not put in place, it will jeopardise our ability to win election.
“We are going to call for a meeting and present to them that he (Buhari) has refused to sign. And look at what National Assembly is doing, whether they are doing something about it because there are processes for overriding the President. So, if that process is finally concluded, we will call for a General meeting and speak to all political parties chairmen”.
President Buhari had on December 7 declined assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill for the fourth time.
In separate letters addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, the President explained that signing the amendment bill close to the 2019 elections could “create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process.
“Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the elections may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process”.
He, therefore, asked the National Assembly to specifically state in the proposal that the amended Electoral Act would come into effect after the 2019 General Elections.
The bill makes the use of smart card reader statutory as the only instrument of accreditation, thereby permanently doing away with Incident Form – a manual accreditation process that has been subject of manipulation in previous elections.
The proposed legislation also makes the back end result of the card reader an evidential tool for nullifying elections where infractions are perpetrated; e-collation of election results; stiffer sanctions for erring INEC officials and media houses; capping of election expenses among others.
On whether the National Assembly can garner the constitutional two-third majority to override the President’s veto, Ameh said: “If they see that the overriding interest of Nigeria supersedes that of the President, they should go ahead and do the needful and give us a legal framework that will be able to give us a free, fair and credible election because we are in the eyes of the storm and we must remain a shining light not only for the West African sub-region but also for Africa and the whole world”.
It would be recalled that 75 political parties had earlier threatened to boycott the election if Buhari failed to sign the amended Electoral Act.
The parties that attended the IPAC meeting where the resolution was taken include the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Better Nigeria Political Party (BNPP), All Grand Alliance Party (AGAP), Coalition for Change (C4C) Alliance for a United Nigeria (AUN), New Generation Party of Nigeria (NGP), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Restoration Party of Nigeria (RP), Young Democratic Party (YDP) among others.
