NEW ELECTORAL ACT: Legislators Shot-Selves

…42 Senators,23 Reps lost out!

By Urube Peter, Abuja

According to the speaker House of Representatives, Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila who faulted the Electoral process in the country.

Gbajabiamila while Addressing colleagues at the green chember noted that at least 14 serving senators and 23 house of reps members may not be returning to the National Assembly. The speaker blamed the electoral process for reasons for the failure of those who were not able to make it back to the chember during the primary elections in various parties.

According to him” many of our members lost out because of the process, the process which we foresaw in the House of Representatives. The delegate system which unfortunately is not what a delegate system is supposed to be”, he said.

While reminding his colleagues of what he calls ” essential to the practice of democracy “, the speaker stressed that as an elected representatives we must at certain intervals, return to the electorate to give account of our service and seek renewal of our mandate to serve the people”.

The periodic renewal of the mandate gives democratic government legitimacy adding that it’s allows members to act in the name of those who elected them.

Gbajabiamila emphasized that the periodic exercise also ensures that elected members conduct themselves in office properly knowing that they will give an account of decision and the priorities they chose to pursue in due time.

He reference his colleagues to the activities of the two months of political pursuits across the country for candidacy for the 2023 general elections noting that all members in the House of Representatives were fully involved in the process.

Unfortunately, it is always the case in electoral contests, some members who sought the nomination of parties to return to legislature who did not get it.

“Others who sought nomination to
contest other positions had also fallen short in their quest” he noted.

The speaker lamented “the unfortunate electoral process which affect most of his colleagues in the way. I make bold to say here that the legislature has once again suffered lost”.

The lost, he relayed was not to members alone but to democracy, to the banking institution and to the country”.

In the same vein, an honorable member house of representative, Mustapha Bala Dawaki, representing Dawakani Kudun federal constituency, Kano State responded to media interview in his office expressed his mix feelings over the negative impact of the electoral Act.

Dawaki said, “We are not Happy with the process as it affects so many of our colleagues to lost out in their primaries not because they did not do enough but that the system of delegating, five persons per ward, whereby the main EXCOs were Short-changed.

He however, expressed delight as his case was different. A ‘third timer’ his performance has gotten him twice tickets unopposed. In the last election, 2019 and even this time around 2022 primary. My victory in the primaries returning me unoppose on ground of good representation” he claimed.

Kano born politician also was unequivocally reference other society where standard of legislative tenents are upheld to ensure good percentage of old members are represented in order to retained the process. Instead of always bringing in new freshers who when they entered take the whole four years to learn to catch up with the doctrines of legislations.