A member of the House of Representatives will, on Thursday, introduce a motion to commence the overriding of President Muhammadu Buhari’s inaction over Section 84(8) of the Electoral Act.
The decision followed a constitutional point of order raised by Ben Igbakpa (PDP, Delta) on the refusal of Mr Buhari to sign the amended electoral bill.
The National Assembly had passed an amendment to Section 84(8) to include statutory delegates as eligible voters in primary elections. The Senate passed the bill on May 10 while the House passed the same bill on May 11. However, Mr Buhari is yet to sign the bill.
Most parties had to use elected delegates to nominate candidates for all offices during primaries.
Mr Igbakpa, in his point of order, appealed to his colleagues and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila to veto the president.
He stated that Mr Buhari created problems across the country by not signing the amended bill, noting that the legislative arm is not subservient to the executive arm.
The lawmaker added that the House should commence the collection of signatures to override the president.
“We must wake up as a parliament. Where we pass laws and we are sure that we have done the right thing, we should start overriding Mr President, because this is just the beginning.
“Today, the NDDC Act is in force because the parliament, which you were part of, did it. Why are we afraid? Mr President has not committed any offence. What he has done is the rule of law and the Constitution, and I believe by the time we do our own by overriding his veto, we would not have committed any offence,” he said.
He added that “if we are sure we have done what is right to the Electoral Act 2022, rise, take our pens, collect signatures and by the grace of God, override Mr President and give Nigerians the enabling electoral law that will stand the test of time.”
In his ruling, Mr Gbajabiamila asked the lawmaker to present a substantive motion on Thursday.
Mr Gbajabiamila explained that the power to override the president is discretionary. He said lawmakers will decide if they are overriding the president or not.
“For us to override, I believe we require a two-thirds majority and it cannot be by voice vote neither can it be by way of signatures unless, of course, you have enough two-thirds by signatures.
“What I will suggest is that you bring the application – a formal motion on notice – perhaps tomorrow or whenever you are able to do that and we will determine whether or not this House is ready to override or not,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) had also raised concerns about the Electoral Act and its impact on the primary elections.
Mr Okechukwu lost his primary election to return to the House.
While speaking on the Act, Mr Okechukwu said the legislation has been weaponised against members of the House.
According to Mr Okechukwu, the House should consider overriding the president on the amendment bill.
“For me, it is just a battle that is lost, the war is on and we should go ahead to make sure that that law is retooled, made clear and if it requires this parliament to take action to override what has not been signed we should be willing to do so,” he said.
The bill to override the president will have to be passed again by both chambers.
On Tuesday, Mr Gbajabiamila blamed the defeat of several members of the House at the recent party primaries on the delegate system provided by the Electoral Act.
According to him, the defeat was not really for members who lost, but a loss to democracy, the institution and the country.
“If it means anything, I know and I am aware that many of our members did not lose their primaries because they were rejected by their constituents.
“Many of our members lost because of the process, the process which we foresaw in the House of Representatives. The delegate system which unfortunately is not what a delegate system is supposed to be,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
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