Mike Ozekhome, a Constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is scared of losing in the 2019 general election.
According to Ozekhome, this is the reason why Buhari has refused to concur to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
A letter by the president which was transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara dated 6th December 2018, explained that passing the bill could cause “some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.”
Ozekhome, who spoke on the issue, noted that the refusal of the president to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is to provide an appropriate atmosphere to boost electoral manipulation in order to create an avenue for him to be re-elected.
It can be noted that Buhari has for the fourth time withdrawn his agreement to the bill and this has sprung concerns from different parties such as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) amongst others.
However, Ozekhome has called on both Houses of parliament, the National Assembly to muster 2/3 majority votes to override the President under section 58 of the 1999 Constitution.
In a statement to news bodies, he said, “Buhari is obviously afraid not just of defeat, but of routing in the next presidential election.
“His refusal is an unveiled and desperate attempt to foist on Nigerians, the grand electoral fraud and larceny of bazaar votes we witnessed in the North West, especially in Kano in 2015.
“Recall that the then Kano Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Returning Officer was burnt to death with his entire family as soon as the results were announced. Till date, no arrest has ever been made of the culprits who annihilated an entire family just so that a person will have power.
“That desperation has been lampooned again and again by Aisha, his very wife. The amendments were aimed at sanitizing and deodorizing the electoral process, enthrone integrity in it, transmit results automatically from the polling units to the announcement centers after parties representatives have signed and endorsed. This prevents rigging, especially after-count rigging, when declared results are brazenly altered.
“How can any genuine democrat ever be against such auspicious amendments, if not for sinister purposes? All hope is not lost.
“The simple answer is for both Houses of parliament, the National Assembly to muster 2/3 majority votes to override the President under section 58 of the 1999 Constitution.”
