Why Senate Rejected Buhari’s Request To Amend New Electoral Act

Senate, yesterday, rejected an Executive Bill transmitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to amend the Electoral Act signed into law on February 25.

This followed the failure of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to scale through second reading on the floor during plenary.

A move to reject the bill was signalled by a call from Adamu Aliero for the Electoral Act amendment bill to be stepped down after the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, moved a motion for it to be read a second time.  Aliero, who came under a Point of Order, drew the attention of his colleagues to the provision of Rule 52(5) of the Senate Standing Order.

Order 52(5) provides that: “Reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending, in such a way as might in the opinion of the president of the Senate prejudice the interest of parties thereto.”

He, therefore, advised the upper chamber to step down the consideration of the bill pending the vacation of a court order delivered by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday.

He said going ahead with the amendment of the Act was in clear conflict with the sub-judice rule in law which prevents the legislature from deliberating or considering any matter already before a court of competent jurisdiction.

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“We should not be seen to be disobeying the court order. No matter how bad that court order is, we should respect it,” Aliero said.

The court, in a ruling delivered by Inyang Ekwo, on an ex parte application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), barred President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Senate president from tampering with the newly amended Electoral Act 2022. The court maintained that the Electoral Act, having become a valid law could not be altered without following the due process of law.

The Senate president, while ruling on Aliero’s Point of Order, insisted that the move by the upper chamber to amend the Electoral Act was in line with exercising its constitutional duties amid following due process.

“I think we are not breaching any law, in fact, we are trying to promote democracy because to do otherwise may mean that one day someone will go to court and say the Senate of the National Assembly should not sit.”

The Senate leader was then given the floor to lead the debate on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

Contributing to the debate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, kicked against the deletion of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill as requested by President Buhari.

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He said: “There are certain things that we see which we think we don’t even have to come here to debate. One of those things is the fact that in every democracy, all over the world, there are certain rules which we don’t need to be told about. One of those rules is the fact that you cannot be a referee and a player on the same field. It is either you’re a referee or a player.

“So, every other place in the world where democracy is practiced, including Nigeria, we don’t need to be told that if we want to run for office, we have to resign. That is a sine qua non that we don’t even need to debate.

“Yet, in Nigeria, people think they can sit in an office and contest an election and become candidates and continue to sit in that office until the date of election. So, how would we continue to debase democracy in this way?  Mr. President, I think, a cursory look at this paper shows that this paper is dead on arrival. And I urge you my colleagues, to help us to continue to deepen democracy by insisting this bill not be read a second time in any manner whatsoever.”

A move by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, to sway his colleagues was unsuccessful.

The bill, when eventually put to a voice vote for second reading by the Senate president after its consideration, received a resounding ‘nay’ from senators in the majority across party lines.

In a related development, the Senate, yesterday, passed the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022.

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The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Joint Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes; and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

Presenting the Joint Committee’s report, Sena Suleiman Abdu Kwari, said the bill seeks to provide for the restraint, seizure, confiscation and forfeiture of properties derived from unlawful activities.

He explained that if signed into law, it would expand the mandates of existing statutory institutions to manage proceeds of crime, rather than creating a new body to carry out such function.

Kwari said the bill’s passage would also facilitate the establishment of departments in relevant organisations to manage forfeited assets as well as provide for effective legal framework for the recovery of proceeds of crime.

The lawmaker, explained further that the bill would strengthen the criminal confiscation procedure by ensuring that the total benefit from a person’s criminal activity is recovered.

According to him, it would “galvanise the collaborative efforts of relevant government agencies in the implementation of confiscation proceedings against convicted persons in tracing and forfeiture of properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity through non-conviction based forfeiture proceedings.”

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The bill after consideration by the Committee of the Whole was passed by the upper chamber.

(Report, excluding headline: Daily Sun)