Court orders Malami to delete Section 84(12) from Electoral Act

The Abia State division of the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia on Friday, March 18, 2022, ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami to delete Section 84 (12) of the amended Electoral Act without delay.

Justice Evelyn Anyadike ordered Malami to delete the section of the Electoral Amendment Act “forthwith” because it’s unconstitutional.

In her judgment, Justice Anyadike held that the section was “unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and ought to be struck down as it cannot stand when it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.”

The section says: “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”.

While signing the Electoral Bill into law last month, President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the National Assembly to delete section 84 (12).

He appealed to the National Assembly to delete the provision claiming that it violated the Constitution and breached the rights of government appointees.

However, the Senate refused to consider the president’s request and threw out the bill seeking the amendment of the section, with lawmakers stressing that an amendment would be going against the civil service norms and would be injurious to the well-being of the society.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022, the AGF said following the Senate’s refusal, the Federal Government will consider all other options available to it before a position will be taken.