Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said the Senate will not be intimidated but will do what is right to give Nigerians an Electoral Act that will advance democracy.
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Akpabio said this during his remarks at the public presentation of the book, “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria,” written by Senator Effiong Bob, at the NAF Centre, Abuja, on Saturday.
He explained that the furore over Section 60 (3) of the Electoral Act was unnecessary because the amendment process was still unfolding and yet to be completed.
Akpabio said, “We have not passed the votes and proceedings; there is still harmonization, but people are already on television, sitting on panels, abusing the Senate for something that is yet to be completed.
“We have not completed it until we look at the votes and proceedings. When we bring out the votes and proceedings, any senator has the right to rise up to amend it.
“We can amend anything before we approve the votes and proceedings. Why abuse the Senate when what we have is incomplete?
“I can’t talk until they tell me to drop the gavel. In this case, we are yet to complete the process. Why are people setting up panels on TV stations and abusing us? I leave them to God.”
In a veiled reference to comments made on television by the Chief Executive of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, over the controversy, Akpabio said, “We will not be intimidated but will do what is right for Nigeria and not that of one NGO. Retreats are not lawmaking.
“Why do you think that the paper you agreed on in Lagos must be what must be approved? I must state clearly that there is no fog or mist in the insinuations.”
While explaining what happened during plenary, the Senate President said, “…All we said is remove the words ‘real-time’ to allow INEC decide the mode of transmission. If you make it mandatory and there is failure of the system, there will be catastrophe.
“So, the door is still open for ADC, APP, and any other party to make adjustments. There is the conference committee and the votes and proceedings, which must be approved before the amendment is passed.
“Real-time means that there will be no election results in nine states where there is no network, or in any part of the country where there is grid breakdown; it means there is no election.
“Technology must save and not endanger democracy. You put real-time in law when you don’t even have electricity in your community.”
Earlier, while speaking about the subject of Effiong Bob’s book, Akpabio said, “The burden of legislators in Nigeria tells a story many have refused to tell.
“The legislature bears a very heavy burden: the burden of representation, where millions of votes matter; the burden of oversight; and the burden of budgetary control.
“These are constitutional duties discharged under intense conditions. It is the essential measure of any democracy where citizens are free to express themselves.”
Former President of the Senate, David Mark, who was the chairman of the occasion, said the burden of the legislator is multifaceted.
According to him, the legislator is pressured by the people as well as other arms of government such as the executive and the judiciary, as well as by unfulfilled personal promises.
He explained that, for lack of understanding, the populace expects the legislator to perform executive functions, pay bills, construct roads, and build schools and hospitals, among others, while still functioning as legislators.
Mark also asked Akpabio and his colleagues in the Senate to accede to the request of Nigerians to do right on the Electoral Act.
Dignitaries at the event included the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Enoh; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Senators Lee Maeba and Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, among others.
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