According to Dr. Usman Bugaje, a political activist and Islamic scholar, the Senate leadership, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has consistently undermined Nigeria’s democratic process by dishonesty and subpar legislative behavior.
In an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Bugaje reportedly defended the continuing effort to change the Electoral Act following a Supreme Court decision.
He claimed that the revision was now required to improve electoral openness and give clarity, especially by requiring the results to be transmitted electronically in real time.
“You see, we now need to go back and amend the law for clarity, accuracy, and precision so that everybody will be clear precisely because of that Supreme Court ruling,” Bugaje stated.
“Everyone should be able to see the precise location of the votes, and the best way to achieve this is to ensure that the results are made available electronically, instantly, or in real time.”
Bugaje pointed out that the House of Representatives had already approved the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) recommendation to require real-time results transmission.
But he said the Senate was against the change.
Even further, INEC has stated that real-time results transmission need to be required. He remarked, “The Senate is constantly caught cheating or deceiving people, but the House of Representatives has done just that.”
Legislative Gaps Accusations
The activist further claimed that the Senate had a history of legislative failures, including disputes over budgetary procedures and tax legislation, which cast doubt on economic planning and governance.
After this amendment, we truly need to handle this one issue. In terms of their primary duty of enacting laws, the Senate has been observed dozing off or engaging in dishonest behavior on previous occasions, Bugaje stated.
With the tax law, they have accomplished that. Because of the chaos they created, we now have almost three budgets, none of which are truly useful. They accomplished this by padding budgets. You have no idea where you actually are.
Because they are unsure of which budget will be financed and which will be implemented, businesses are unable to plan.
Bugaje demanded that the Senate leadership’s conduct be closely examined and characterized it as a significant governance concern.
Therefore, we must start to question the purpose of Senate leadership, as it is currently the nation’s largest issue. He asked, “What kind of careless behavior is this?”
Even after the Electoral Act change process, he continued, the matter will continue to be a topic of national discussion.
According to Bugaje, “we’ll have to take that up after we have gone through the amendment.”
He maintained that nationwide mandated electronic transmission of election results was gaining public acceptance.
“However, I believe that there is a widespread belief throughout the nation, including among their fellow House lawmakers, that this real-time, mandated transmission is what everyone wants and what ought to be done. He declared, “Nigerians are not prepared for anything less.”
