Sec.84 (12): PDP's Sule Lamido Bombs Senate

SEC.84 (12): Sule Lamido Bombs Senate

Electoral Act: National Assembly Members Should Bury Their Heads In Shame Over Section 84(12) , Says Sule Lamido

Former Governor of Jigawa State Sule Lamido in this interview with JOHN AKUBO spoke on the recent electoral act that was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, blaming lawmakers and their selfish interests for bringing in section 84(12), which Buhari asked them to delete.

Q: Buhari asked the National Assembly to delete completely section 84(12), which he said is in conflict with the Constitution, barely a week after he signed the Electoral Act 2022 into law. What’s your reaction to the drama?

 A: Historically, since our days in the National Assembly, way back in 1979, there has been this contest between the National Assembly members and governors, even though members get elected through the influence of their governors, by the time they converge at the National Assembly they begin to find power in their associations and groups as an institution and begin to see how they can best promote their interests rather than making the right laws to govern Nigeria in the most effective way. They begin to bring in their interests and begin to use their positions in the National Assembly to address issues, which don’t assure them of their security. This is not the first Assembly to do that; tussle for power, influence between legislators and the executive seems to be an old one. But then there should be something called maturity, character; there should be a moral benchmark because there are some things you don’t do because they are too obvious, you know people see through you. In any case no matter what you do as a legislator, no matter what you put down as a law, by the time the Assembly runs out or expires you will go back to your state, your constituency and to your governor. All the noise you made to preserve yourself, when you return home they don’t matter. It is in the character of the National Assembly or legislature to attempt to use the authority of their office to promote their interest; that is normal but what we are saying is, it should be done with some degree of caution. So, coming to what they did, you see, you cannot imagine somebody like Lawan, who has been there for so many years, since the beginning of this democracy in1999, from the House of Representatives up to the Senate, for 23 years to be superintending over something done against the Nigerian Constitution. The Constitution and what they call the civil service code for officers is very clear, how you retire, how you live and all that. Whatever they make of the law for their own interests, by the time the law is passed and signed by the President, that thing they put will not retain them in office. At the end of the day they are going back to their constituencies to meet the governors whom they have been fighting. So, for me it is better to do the right thing. By so doing, you preserve the authority of the institution for the purposes of making good laws for Nigeria. That is very important. Because it is not the law they passed that brought them to that house; there were others who had been there before the present lawmakers. No matter what they do while they hold, sway in terms of putting a law to protect their interest, most of them wouldn’t come back. Anybody who dares to confront a governor by engaging in power contest simply because they are in the National Assembly, by the time they are through with their tenure they are going back. I think the President is right. It is Buhari who is telling them their law is defective, in contrast with the Nigerian Constitution. I just can’t believe that, it is laughable and very embarrassing. Most of them are old civil servants, professors and lawyers. This is because they have been blinded by their ambition and they begin to address issues which are even illegal and against the Constitution. I see what they have done as a huge embarrassment to their individual personalities and to the institution of lawmaking because you can see their desperation to cling to power. 

Q:Don’t you think it is undemocratic for about 2000 appointees of a governor to participate in a primary or convention, when they’re likely to vote for the governor’s interest? 

A: What I am saying is, you don’t make a law with something personal in mind or having any person in mind. Don’t make a law because you are APC and therefore you must support Buhari; neither should you make a law to attain your personal interest. Laws should be made as a process of doing good for the country and for good governance. Laws should be able to serve the Nigerian people; it should serve Nigeria’s interest, our collectivity not individuals’. So you don’t make a law with something in mind.