Coalition of Election Monitors and Observers (CEMO), election monitoring groups, have asked President Muhammadu Buhari not to sign the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022.
The twenty-four election monitoring group stressed that it was already late to sign the electoral act as political parties have already started activities.
The group made the resolution after an emergency meeting on Monday where it noted that signing the electoral act at this time will be “dangerous, counter-productive, capable of triggering widespread political crisis and litigations that can derail the 2023 general elections.”
Presenting the report, National Convener of CEMO, Dr. Idris Yabu, called on the president to return the bill to the national assembly for future elections.
He said the president was suppose to have signed the bill long before now to give political activities by parties uniformity.
According to Yabu, signing it now will be “changing the rules in the middle of the game and disjointing the entire electoral process”.
“After a very extensive review and consultations on the issue, we submit that the amendments sought to Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022, as desirable as they may be, have been overtaken by events leading to the 2023 general elections.
“It is instructive to note that political parties, especially the two major political parties in Nigeria have already started the electoral processes under the timelines, schedules and rules prescribed by the provisions of the extant Electoral Act 2022.
“More importantly, it must be noted that political parties have already structured their timetables, sold nomination forms, screened aspirants, conducted congresses, elected delegates, with major parties already holding primaries and candidates already emerging under the rules provided for in the current Electoral Act, 2022.
“In this regard, any alteration or amendment to the Electoral Act, at this moment, will amount to changing the rules in the middle of the game. Such will be dangerous and counter-productive to our democratic process. It will trigger widespread political crisis and result in litigations that can derail the 2023 general elections.
“Our observation shows that political parties, aspirants and the electorate have already adjusted to the current provision of Section 84 of the Electoral Act. Candidates are already peacefully emerging. Any alteration at this moment has the propensity of dislocating the current political tranquility in the country and disrupting the entire electoral process.
“CEMO therefore urges President Muhammadu Buhari to save the nation from a serious political crisis at this moment by returning the Amendment Bill to the National Assembly for reprocessing for future elections.
“CEMO also urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to advice Mr. President in this direction to avoid political crisis and ensure the smooth conduct of the 2023 general elections”.
