Including Litigation, FG Considers Three Options to Address Electoral Act Impasse

•Malami: We’re still processing Kyari’s extradition request by US 

• Says Nigeria now fighting corruption internationally 

Deji Elumoye

The federal government has disclosed that it was considering three options, which included litigation, to address the refusal by the National Assembly to delete section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari, even after sharing the understanding.

It said although it was yet to take a definite decision on the issue, it would explore all necessary options available concerning the Act.

At the same time, the government said the request for the extradition of the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, over link with a fraudster, Abbas Ramon known as Hushpuppui, was still being processed.

President Buhari, last month, drew the attention of the leadership of the National Assembly to Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022 and requested that the section should be deleted through a process of amendment. 

The controversial Section 84 (12) reads: “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”.

However, fielding questions from newsmen yesterday after the virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the three options before government included representing the bill to the National Assembly to amend the contentious section of the Electoral Act, judicial option, which is approaching the court or accepting the law as it is.

    His words: “The government has a lot of options to consider and exploit: One of the options is to demand the National Assembly to consider. The other option is to look at the law within the context and spirit of the law and see what it can do.

“And all these portions on table. No position has been conclusively taken on the part of the government. The government is reviewing, the government is looking and the government will come up with a position at the appropriate time. If the need for further action is required.

“If there is no further need for such action, the government will take it as presented. But no position has been taken by the government as of today with particular regard as to what needs to be done on the part of the executive arising from the provisions of the electoral act in the respect, which issues conflict to the Constitution were raised.”

Malami said it was the responsibility of the lawmakers to legislate, adding that if it became necessary, the federal government would explore all the options available to it, insisting that the government was yet to take a conclusive stand as to what it would do on the matter.

Speaking on the extradition request by the United States government on Kyari, the Justice Minister lamented that there had been a misconception on the issue, but that the request was still being processed.

He expressed concern over what he called the misunderstanding created around the issue by the media, urging them to get a grip of the facts to avoid creating confusion.

Said he, “Starting with the issue of Abba Kyari as raised, maybe by way of an insight as to the workings of the Office of the Attorney General and Federal Ministry of Justice, we need to understand that it is not and has never been part of the functions and duties of the office of the attorney to conduct investigation.

“So, generally speaking, when issues are raised that have some criminal undertones, the responsibility of the office of the Attorney General is to send such to the relevant agencies of government that are saddled with the responsibility of investigation, inclusive, or perhaps Police, ICPC, EFCC, among others.

“So, with that in mind, during the course of the investigation, there is naturally correspondence and exchange of mutual  correspondence between the offices. Fundamentally, after the investigation were deposited to the Office of the Attorney General, Attorney General will review same  to see whether there is need for enhancement of investigation as it relates to certain key elements of the offense.

“It is from this background perspectives that you will need to consider what fully transpired in the case of Abba Kyari. Allegations were made, investigations were conducted, and then request for further enhancement of investigation were indeed made by the office of the Attorney General for the purpose of covering the field in arriving at an informed decision one way or the other.

“So, while this process of correspondence between the Office of the Attorney General and the police is ongoing, it is indeed a work in progress and never conclusive position. So, that is what I can tell you clearly, there was indeed an independent request to an investigation.

“Interim Investigation report was presented to the office of the attorney general and  the attorney general at the point, requested for further enhancement of the investigation and highlighted some areas in respect of which enhancement of investigation is required. So, it is indeed premature or perhaps, mischievous for any conclusion to have been driven in the direction of exoneration or otherwise of liability or responsibility related therein.”

Malami also stated that his ministry had presented two memos on need to step up fight against corruption to FEC for approval.

According to him, “Two items were presented by the Federal Ministry of Justice for the consideration of the Federal Executive Council. The two items are all relating what we are doing in the direction of the fight against corruption. They are intended to advance the fight against corruption, both locally and internationally, to the next level.

“The first item, which has to do with a memo, which seeks the approval of the Council for the repeal of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal, is intended to repeal an act. As you are rightly aware, there exists what is called an Act of the National Assembly, which is known as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. C 15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

“We are here today, this morning, and which has been presented before the Federal Executive Council, is the amendment bill or repeal bill that is targeted at enhancing what these two bodies are doing. The Code of Conduct Bureau is simply responsible for the enforcement of the code of conduct for public officers and the Code of Conduct Tribunal is responsible for enforcing, by way of judicial trials and proceedings, which is associated with the code of conduct of public officers.

“So, what we have done this afternoon is to present a bill that seeks to enhance what has been done, arriving from the identified gaps, for the purpose of enhancing the functions of these two bodies, both in terms of the composition of the tribunal, because we have limited number and the desire arises for expansion of the scope in terms of the number of the panel that should be seated for the purpose of addressing the issues associated with breaches that are presented before the tribunal by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

“So, we have succeeded in presenting issues related to the powers, expansion of powers of the tribunal, for example, not only to limit itself to the idea of presenting the cases and investigation, but also to include the possibility for future confiscation and seizure of assets, when the need arises, which were part and parcel of the Code of Conduct Bureau before now.

“In terms of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, it’s to expand the scope, taking into consideration of the workload. There are a lot of pending cases, but then we have limited personnel, limited members of the tribunal to address them.

“So, fundamentally, that bill is intended to consider it from the points of expansion of the powers, from the points of increase in composition of the tribunal, and then from the points of expanding the scope of punishment that could be meted, all out of the desire to take the fight against corruption to the next level.

“The second item that has been presented by the Council is a report – a  Council note relating to the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, held at International Conference Center, Sher and Shek in Egypt, dated 12 to 17 December, 2021. For your information, Nigeria sponsored an international resolution relating to assets recovery, among others.

“The intention of that resolution is to see how best Nigeria can bring about international understanding relating to the recovery of assets by way of simplifying the process, by way of ensuring at the end of the day that, we kind of create an international community understanding relating to the process of recovery of assets. At the end of the day, arising from the conclusion of the meeting, Nigeria has succeeded in developing a resolution relating to enhancing access and use of beneficial ownership information to facilitate identification, recovery, and return of assets.

“As you rightly know, for example, the case of P&ID, even as at the time Nigeria ran into trouble with the case and we had against us an award of over $10 billion against the Nigerian state, those that were behind it were hidden, they were not identified at all. So, it took us a lot of trouble, internationally and locally, to identify the beneficial owners of P& ID.

“So, with that in mind, Nigeria has now developed an international resolution of beneficial ownership register, that whoever is investing in Nigeria, as a company and internationally, should have full disclosure of his identity before embarking on any international investment and then, Nigeria has succeeded in presenting that resolution and it has a lot of support from a number of countries, including Pakistan, State of Palestine, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, United States of America, Ecuador, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Honduras, Angola, Algeria, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Kenya, among others.

“So, what I’m trying to say in essence is, Nigeria has indeed taken its fight against corruption, not only locally, but indeed internationally, by way of ensuring that adequate infrastructure, both legal, legislative, and otherwise, are put in place for the purpose of facilitating the tracing and recovery of assets.

“But then, the point of interest arising from what Nigeria did relating to the Conference of State Parties, is the fact that the international community appreciated Nigeria’s efforts in the fight against corruption, where Nigeria has also been highly rated as a leader in Africa in areas of developing structures for recovery, repatriation, and disposal of proceeds of crime, among others.”