The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 seeks to provide the order in which INEC must conduct the 2019 general elections, contrary to the sequence earlier announced by the electoral body. The bill has been passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly but President Muhammadu Buhari refused to sign it into law. There had been threats by some legislators that the National Assembly would make the bill a law by overriding the President’s veto with two-third majority votes of both chambers. But the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, following an oral application by the Accord Party’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), on Thursday, ordered parties to the suit, to stop taking any further actions on the bill pending the hearing of the plaintiff’s motion for an interlocutory injunction. The judge adjourned till March 20. The Accord Party is by its suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/232/2015, and filed March 7, 2018, challenging the constitutionality of the ongoing amendment to the Electoral Act. The National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation and INEC are currently the three defendants on record in the suit. But the Action Peoples Party filed an application on Friday seeking to be joined as the 4th defendant in the suit. The APP argued that it “is a necessary party in the suit filed by the Accord Party.” Indicating its interest to oppose the suit, the APP stated that the Accord Party was by its suit, “seeking to restrain the National Assembly from performing its constitutional legislative duty of overriding the President for refusing to assent to the bill.” In its application filed by its lawyer, Mr. Kingdom Okere, the APP is seeking the court’s leave to be joined in the suit on the grounds that it is a registered political party and has a right to sponsor candidates for the 2019 general elections. While contending that the court lacked the power to stop the National Assembly from carrying out its constitutional lawmaking duties, it added that the elections reordering sought to be achieved by the bill would guarantee free and fair elections. The APP said, “The party seeking to be joined believes strongly in the tenets of the rule of law and separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and believes that it is within the constitutional responsibility of the National Assembly to make laws in Nigeria, including law setting the sequence of elections. “The party seeking to be joined believes strongly that sequence of election is different from date of election, which the Independent National Electoral Commission has the constitutional discretion to fix. “The party seeking to be joined believes strongly that no court of law has the constitutional power to stop the National Assembly from performing its constitutional duty of lawmaking, but rather the outcome or product of the legislative powers of the National Assembly can be challenged in the court of law by way of judicial interpretation. “The party seeking to be joined believes strongly that reordering election sequence as contained in the 2018 amended Electoral Bill which was rejected by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the subject matter of this suit will guarantee free and fair elections. “The party seeking to be joined will be affected by the outcome of this suit. “Joining the party seeking to be joined is just and will eliminate filling/duplication of similar court actions on the same subject matter and thereafter seeking leave of the Hon. court to consolidate them.” The party contented that it would be in the interest of justice to join it in the suit “since the outcome will affect the conduct of the 2019 general elections and the participation of political parties.” It added, “The party seeking to be joined believes that the 2018 amended Electoral Bill, which was rejected by the President and which is the subject matter of this suit, will guarantee a level-playing field for all political parties and cure the bandwagon effect of the party that wins the presidential election recording undue landslide victory in other elections and thereby jeopardising the chances of other political parties. “In a presidential election, the entire country is the constituency of the presidential candidates and it makes more sense and accords with reason that the processes be tested with elections at various other levels before the presidential election. “That the President and the ruling All Progressives Congress should not be afraid of the sequence of 2019 elections since they have boasted to have performed excellently as the government in power and that they are sure that Nigerians will reelect them whenever election is conducted.”]]>

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