The controversy trailing the provision of section 84(10) of the Electoral Act 2022 deserves the attention of the National Assembly. The section provides that “no political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party.” At the signing ceremony of the act, President Muhammadu Buhari urged the National Assembly to amend the section, which he deemed inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended).
The relevant provisions of the constitution, which section 84(10) is deemed to infringe upon are sections 66(f), 107(f), 137(g) and 182(g) which, respectively, provide for the resignation of “a person employed in the public service of the federation or of a state … at least thirty days to the date of the election.” The sections are with respect to contestants for the Senate or House of Representatives, House of Assembly, President and Governorship elections, respectively.
In his argument, President Buhari contends that the new section 84(10), which by implication will prohibit political appointees from participating in the political party’s primary, which comes up 180 days before the election, either as a delegate or contestant, is discriminatory and impinges on the 30 days provided by the constitution. We agree that a provision of the law that places a heavier burden on a section of the participants in an electoral process is discriminatory, and we urge the legislators to re-examine the provision.
The former Nigerian Bar Association president Dr Olisa Agbakoba SAN, argues similarly that “Section 84 restrictions on political appointees is an infraction of their guaranteed rights.” He further contended that: “The constitution makes clear it is invalid to create restrictions that interfere with the right of anyone, including political appointees, from participating in the political process.” On his part, Mr Kunle Adegoke SAN, said: “I believe that Section 84(10) of the Electoral Act, 2022 is in conflict with the constitution, not as regards the need for a public officer to have resigned 30 days to the election, but as regards the disqualification of a political appointee from participating in the primary election of a political party, whether as a delegate or as an aspirant.”
Canvassing that section 84(10) of the Electoral Act does not infringe the constitution, Ahmed Raji, SAN, argues that: “The first major challenge is that the act does not define who a political appointee is. Is a vice-chancellor of a government university one? What of the chief medical directors of our teaching hospitals? How about career ambassadors?” He opined: “And I do not see anything unconstitutional in the provision which is apt to have a salutary effect on the system. It does not deny them the right to participate.”
From the foregoing, it is obvious that section 84(10) has become a controversial section in the otherwise publicly acclaimed Electoral Act 2022. Before President Buhari assented to the bill, there was fear that he may refuse assent because of that provision. We are also aware of the popular belief that the legislators inserted the clause to tame the undue influence of governors who allegedly use their political appointees as delegates to overwhelm party primary elections.
Regardless of the motive for that section, our interest is that the state of the law should be clear and unequivocal and fair to all Nigerians. But clearly the legislators feel that the section is constitutional, and is wrongly interpreted by the opponents. Since that provision has far-reaching implication for those affected by the section, we urge those aggrieved and who have the locus standi to approach the court for a proper interpretation of the validity of section 84(10) of the Electoral Act 2022.