The Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia, Abia State has ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation to immediately delete Section 84 (12) of the Amended New Electoral Act.
Justice Evelyn Anyadike, giving the order on Friday, held that the section was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and cannot stand, as it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.
The section says: “No political appointee at any level shall be voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election”.
In the suit marked FHC/UM/CS/26/2022, Justice Anyadike further stated that Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulated that appointees of government seeking to contest elections were only to resign at least 30 days to the date of the election and that any other law that mandated such appointees to resign or leave office at any time before that was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal null and void to the extent of its inconsistency to the clear provisions of the Constitution.
While signing the Electoral Bill into law last month, President Buhari had asked the National Assembly to delete section 84 (12).
President Buhari had argued that “Section 84 (12) constitutes a disenfranchisement of serving political office holders from voting or being voted for at conventions or congresses of any political party, for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election in cases where it holds earlier than 30 days to the national election”.
However, the Senate refused to consider the President’s request and threw out the bill seeking the amendment of the section, with lawmakers stressing that an amendment would be going against the civil service norms and would be injurious to the well-being of the society.
The position of the Senate, rejecting the President’s request led to division of opinions with some agreeing that it could not always will win-all, all the times.
But the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami (SAN) believes that the Executive has options to contest the Senate’s not by confrontation but rule of law.
On Wednesday, therefore, the AGF said made an official statement on the matter saying the Federal Government would consider all the other options available to it before a position would be taken by government.
Malami further explained that even though it was the responsibility of the lawmakers to legislate, if it became necessary, the government would exploit other options which would include either putting forward another request to the parliament for reconsideration, approaching the court, or accepting the law just as it was.
Addressing newsmen after the court sitting on Friday, Counsel to the Plaintiff Emeka Ozoani (SAN), stated that by this judgment, the National Assembly is not required to further make any amendments to the section as the import of this judgment is that Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act is no longer in existence or part of the Electoral Act.
The Judge, thereafter, ordered the Attorney General of the Federation to forthwith delete the said Subsection 12 of Section 84 from the body of the Electoral Act, 2022.
