By Levinus Nwabughiogu – Abuja

House of Representatives, Thursday, said there was no scintilla of selfish interest in the passage of the electoral act amendment bill into law by the national assembly.

The House rather said that its activities and actions have always been guided by public interest and the need to deepen the tenets of democracy.

The House spoke through its spokesman, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, during a press briefing after Thursday plenary.

It will be recalled that the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Abubarkar Malami, SAN, in a recent interview with Channels TV hinted of sifting the bill against selfish interests. 

Acknowledging the receipt of the bill, he said that he was inclined to protect the interest of 200 million Nigerians over selfish interests.

He said: “Honestly, without going through or reading through, I am not in a position to assess whether the bill, indeed, has factored the national and public interest, as against selfish interest, among others; whether it is a bill that can stand the test of constitutionality and legality.

“Certainly, if I am not satisfied and if I am of the opinion that it is against the public interest, the national interest; and then against the dictates of democratic process, I would advise accordingly.

“But then, one thing I can tell you is that we are all interested in leaving behind a legacy of a lasting democracy; a democracy that indeed accommodates the collective interest of the Nigerian state, and eventually advances the national interest, national development and deepens the democratic process.

“So, with these considerations associated with deepening democracy; with the considerations associated with the national and public interest, we will certainly do whatever it takes to move democracy to the next level.

“And when we are talking of the public interest, I am talking of the interest of 200 million Nigerians. I will be guided at all times by my oath of office associated with public interest, exclusive of the sentiments or the feelings”.

But in what was apparently a rebuttal to Malami’s remarks, the House Spokesman, Kalu said the passage of the bill was guided by the interest of the Nigerian people. 

He added that the 2010 electoral act was obsolete and can no longer meet the realities in today’s Nigeria.

Kalu also said that the parliament will not lobby the executive for the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari to the bill already transmitted to him, saying that that would mean interfering against the principle of separation of powers.

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It will be recalled that President Buhari had withheld his assent the first time the bill was sent to him, citing the impracticality of direct primaries clause as the only option provided for the political parties to choose their candidates for elections.

Upon the rejection, the National Assembly however reworked the bill, adding indirect and consensus options to it.

In his briefing, Kalu said “The scope of the operation of the procedures are well documented in the Constitution as well as the House rules. And there is no where in the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria and the House rules where selfish interest is allowed as an instrument to be used in the process of lawmaking.

“Rather in place of selfish interest is public interest. And that’s why to advance that particular aspect, the Constitution and House rules made provision for public hearing, for stakeholders engagement for memorandum to be sent in, for presentation to be made for town halls. 

“So, these public engagements are not self-serving because not all of them are parliamentarians.

“Some of them are civil society organizations, faith based organizations, political organizations, traditional organizations, researchers and believers, disciples and advocates of democracy. And there is a thin line running through all their opinions and that thin line is that the 2010 electoral act is obsolete.

“In view of the dynamics of the society, challenges we have experienced, the 2010 electoral act is obsolete. Therefore, can no longer meet the demands, expectations, ethos and principles of democracy. 

“If we are serious about advancing our democracy, we should stop playing to the gallery. We should do what the public interest says. And what is the public interest? That they want the electoral act amendment bill as submitted having incoperated the direct, indirect and consensus, let’s move on because it was only one clause that was complained about when it was submitted. Granted that it may not be a perfect piece of legislation because what they wanted was direct primaries but not conceding that the option of direct primaries and the consensus option go against the advancement of our democratic ethos and advancement of our democracy, let us move on and that’s not selfish interest.

“That’s public interest. This is the parliament of the people. 

“Whatever actions that will take, motions that we move, resolution we make and bills that we make, we make not as unto ourselves to the exclusion of others, we make it to the generality of Nigerians because for now, we are members of the parliament. Who knows tomorrow, we might be in the executive or even be outside the government.

“The laws we make today will be there to govern us in time to come as citizens of this country. So, the element of selfish should be removed from our ideas on this particular piece of legislation.

“All we have maintained, what has guided us is nothing but to increase transparency, accountability, competitiveness and fairness in our electoral system”.

On the idea of lobbying the President

“We are three arms of government. Though we are three, we are one government and it will be interfering within the parameters of our mandate not to allow them independency as proposed by the Constitution.

“They should be allowed the free hand to make decisions based on what we have proffered as a reflection of the wishes, hunger and desire of the common Nigerians. The executive should be able to trust the parliament enough to know that what we speak remains the voice of the people and not our own voices. 

“But when it comes to lobbying, there are so many stakeholders whose job it is to follow through with issues like this. Once it is before the parliament, they come to lobby. Even in the US, there are lobbyists and once we finish because they are interested, they will go lobbying.

“Talking about the civil society organizations, NGOs, even nations that have interest in Nigeria and want us to up from where we are to where we ought to be in our democratic advancement, will make some movement to make sure the executive buys into what we have done. What we have done is that we have shown maturity in the way we have conducted our affairs without being on an ego trip, remaining humble, working for the people and allowing the executive to play their part as expected of the law”.

Vanguard News Nigeria