Senate set for showdown with Malami over deleting Section 84(12) from Electoral Act

The Senate of the National Assembly looks set for a showdown with the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, over the controversial deletion of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act. The Senate, therefore, resolved to deliberate on Wednesday a motion on the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abia State, directing the executive to delete Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly.

Senator George Sekibo at plenary on Tuesday, raised a point of order, challenging the judgement of the High court in Abia State. Sekibo argued that the court judgment contradicts the principle of separation of powers, and therefore, erred in law.

The senator declared that the Constitution gives the National Assembly powers to make laws and guide the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct of elections. Apparently, the court cannot unmake the law made by the legislature.

The presiding Judge of the Federal High Court, Umuahia, Abia State, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, last Friday, declared Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 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 stipulates: “No political appointee at any level shall be a 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”.

Justice Anyadike in her judgement on the suit marked FHC/UM/CS/26/2022, maintained that Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f), and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulates that appointees of government seeking to contest elections should resign at least 30 days to the date of the election, insisting that any other law that mandated such appointees to resign or leave the 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.