Senators on Wednesday took turns to criticize sections of a bill to amend provisions of the Electoral Act 2010.
The renewed attempt to amend the Electoral Act 2010 followed the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the amended Electoral Act transmitted to him for assent.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission, Senator Suleiman Nazif, on Wednesday presented a reviewed Electoral Act amendment bill for the consideration and passage.
But new Electoral Act amendment bill aimed at accommodating the observations of President Buhari appeared to have created more controversies as identified by Senators.
On election expenses (Section 91(1) the bill proposed that “Election expenses shall not exceed the sum stipulated in subsections (2)-(7) which stipulated that maximum amount candidates should spend in an election.
It specifically proposed N5 billion for a presidential candidate; N1 billion for a governorship candidate; N100 million for senatorial candidate; N70 million for House of Representatives; N30 million for State Assembly and chairmanship candidate and N5 million for councillorship candidate.
It also said that no individual or other entity shall donate to a candidate more than N10 million.
It goes on to stipulate that “A candidate who knowingly acts in contravention of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of 1% of the amount permitted as the limit of campaign expenditure under this Act or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.”
Most of the senators who spoke kicked against pegging of election expenses.
For some other, election expense should be left open ended.
Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central) warned that the proposal on election expenses was unimplementable.
He said, “I don’t see the logic in pegging the amount to be contributed to a candidate. We all know that this won’t stand, because people are going to spend much more than that.
“On N5 billion for a Presidential candidate as limit of expenses, Marafa wanted to know how many polling units the country has.
“If you give each agent say N10, 000, the amount may get up the proposed amount. So, I don’t want us to do something that won’t stand.”
On his own Senator James Manager (Delta South) said: “Some of the amendments raised are very technical and dangerous.
“I advise that when this is referred to the committee, it should check all the views expressed here, including those not expressed, and come up with something that is acceptable.
“For example, the issue raised by Marafa it is a very serious one.
“Besides, who is going to enforce this? So, we should look at it holistically. What we have here is something that is completely unimplementable. We should be able to make laws that can be implemented.”
Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) said: “On elections expenses limit, the provision here can’t be enforced. It is not enforceable.
“Making this provision in the Electoral Act is like making anybody that wins election to be taken to court. We should look at how to strengthen the law against vote buying.
“Monies spent by a candidate among his party members can never be ascertained by anybody. I suggest that this section should be expunged completely.”
Senate Leader, Senator Ahme Lawan (Yobe North) was more concerned about when the issues raised by the President would be addressed while Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu expressed worry about item 7, on missing name of a candidate on the ballot paper.
Ekwerenmadu noted that “This is very dangerous because somebody who knows he can’t win election will raise an alarm and make other candidates suffer for it.”
The section states: “If at the point of display or distribution of ballot paper by the Commission, a candidate or his agent discovers that his name, the name of logo of his party is omitted, a candidate of his agent shall notify the Commission and the Commission shall:
(a) Postpone the election to rectify the omission and (b) Appoint another date to conduct the election, not later than 90 days.
It further stated that “Where the election is postponed due to omission of a political party’s name or logo, the Commission’s officer responsible for such printing of party name or logo commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N2 million or imprisonment for two years or both.”
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South) said that his was more of an observation.
“I want to add to what the Deputy Senate President said on the omission of logos. Prior to election day, a copy of the ballot papers should be made available to political parties to check their names and logos. If we allow it to go like this, there will be room for manipulation.
“A sample of the ballot paper should be displayed two weeks to the election for all parties to see,” Ndume said.
Senator Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) said: “The issues raised by the president are vital, and the committee said they would look into them. I believe the committee should come up with all the areas for us to discuss.”
Senator Joshua Lidani (Gombe South) on his own said: “I don’t know why we’re bringing INEC to meddle into the issue of candidates. INEC doesn’t have anything to do with what the parties decide since they are the only ones that can forward names of candidates for elections.”
Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North) said: “I believe INEC should be allowed to confirm all that happens during the parties’ primaries,” while Senator George Akume (Benue North West) said: “I want to draw attention to section 87 on parties’ nomination. It is an undue interference in the affairs of political parties.”
Senator Andy Uba (Anambra South) noted that on “section 87 (12) where which talks about primaries, in a state where you have parallel primaries and INEC officials attended both, how do you handle that? So, I think this section should be expunged.”
Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) drew attention to the issue of parties’ primaries.
“It is a serious recipe for danger. It can be used to witch-hunt political enemies. There is a subsisting judgment by the Supreme Court that the issue of nomination is the prerogative of the political parties. This is a very dangerous trend.”
Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) noted that “in addition to other observations made by colleagues, I want to talk on section 49 (3). I’m of the opinion that the proposal on card reader should be 72 hours. On primaries too, political parties should be allowed to nominate candidates without INEC interference.”
Having gone through second reading, the bill referred to the committee on electoral matters to report back on Tuesday.
