A legal luminary and human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to give assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The Senior Advocate also urged the President to damn any consequences on the electoral act and make Nigerians happy by assenting the bill.
The National Assembly had on November 19 transmitted the bill to Buhari but the President refused to sign the bill within the mandatory 30 days period which expired on Sunday.
Speaking on the matter during an interview with the Arise TV on Sunday, Ozekhome said, “Mr. President, I am on my bended knees, I am bowing for you with great respect and reverence, assent to this Amended Electoral Act, Sir and Nigerians will be happy with you.
“I will write, I will come again on television and praise you. Damn the consequences and heavens will not fall. If they were to fall, the heavens will fall on all of us. So don’t be afraid it is surely for all of us, it is not a Ben Johnson’s or Usain’s 100m quick race of less than 10 seconds, Sir, it is a marathon race and Nigerians are watching.”
Ozekhome also urged the National Assembly to override the President’s veto and pass the bill into an act if Buhari fails to give assent on Monday (today).
The Senior Advocate further urged the National Assembly to show Nigerians that they are not a “toothless bulldog that cannot bite.”
He then said, “Nigerians are still saying that the 8th assembly is the best we have had so far in terms of facing up to tyrannical act of the executives.
“Since the time of Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe who was the first President of the Senate, followed by Dr. Nwaifo Orizu, they should know that most Nigerians believe that the present National Assembly is not only a toothless bulldog that cannot bite, but it cannot even bark once Mr. President manifests.
“They should discard this obnoxious perception of them because they have a future, individual names, collective names, prosterity and history writes everything we do.
“What will they do tomorrow if Mr. President refuses to assent the bill?. My answer is simple, override Mr. President’s veto and pass the bill into an act of parliament under sections 58 and 59 of the Constitution, deriving your powers of section four of the Constitution.
“Because as propounded as far back as 1748 by Baron de Montesquieu, the great French philosopher and theorist or theoretician, the executive, legislature and the judiciary are different and they must be separated one from the other with checks and balances.
“So, that there will be no autocracy or dictatorship because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, National Assembly go ahead tomorrow, override the veto of Mr. President.”
