Opeyemi Bamidele, the majority leader of the Senate, on Tuesday disclosed that the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022, would be concluded on or before December 2025, assuring Nigerians that the amendment would be used for the 2027 general elections.
Bamidele, also representing Ekiti Central in the Senate, explained that the only reason the Muhammadu Buhari administration was unable to sign the last aspect of the electoral amendment Bill was because the National Assembly transmitted it late to the Presidency then.
He disclosed this in a statement he made after Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, read President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to confirm Joash Amupitan (SAN) as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Tinubu had nominated Amupitan, a Professor of Law, after the Council of States unanimously approved his appointment as the new INEC chairman last Wednesday following the exit of Mahmood Yakubu.
After the Council of States unanimously approved Amupitan’s appointment, President Tinubu formally requested the upper chamber to confirm Amupitan as the chairman of the country’s electoral commission.
In his statement on Tuesday, Bamidele noted that the only reason the previous administration did not sign the last aspect of the Electoral Bill in 2022 was that it was transmitted to the Presidency late.
He further explained, “Before then, we had made our first proposal. We sent the bill to the then-president, and it was signed. When further observations were made, especially when certain people were disenfranchised as statutory delegates and the National Assembly wanted to make corrections, the late former President Muhammadu Buhari said the bill was coming too close to the election.
“And late President Buhari then observed that he did not want to be misunderstood by the public. That is why the bill was not signed then. Between now and December 2025, we will ensure that the amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022, is concluded so that it will not be too close to the 2027 Elections.”
Speaking on the review of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (amended), Bamidele further assured Nigerians that the present review would scale through because relevant stakeholders, especially the Nigerian Governors Forum and the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, were meaningfully engaged in the overriding public interests.
Bamidele, also Vice Chairman of the 1999 Constitution Review Committee in the Senate, dismissed speculations that the presidency would resist the effort of the National Assembly to successfully amend the grundnorm.
He noted, “I do not envisage that there will be any resistance because public institutions are working with the National Assembly for the successful review of the 1999 Constitution.
“In this amendment, global best practices will also be taken into consideration in the area of domestication of international treaties and agreements.”
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On the issue of criticism by the opposition, Bamidele noted that no matter how well a government was performing, the opposition would never agree that the government was doing well because they, too, were plotting to reclaim the presidency.
He said, “Part of what they will love to see is to see the ruling party fighting daily, throwing out correspondence from the presidency or whatever is coming from the executive.
“That is what will make them happy. But our focus is on rebuilding Nigeria, stabilizing our polity, and growing our economy. And we will never be distracted from this goal.”
On the agenda of the 10th Senate for the third legislative year, Bamidele said that the National Assembly “has a lot of issues to deal with in this session, ranging from the amendment of the 2022 Electoral Act to the review of the 1999 Constitution, among others.”
