Reprieve For Political Appointees; Court Declares Section 84 (12) Of Electoral Law Unconstitutional

By Ayodele Oni

Reprieve has come for political appointees seeking to contest election in 2023 as the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia has today struck down Section 84(12) of the newly amended Electoral Act.

While signing the newly amended electoral act 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the National Assembly to delete the section.

Only yesterday, the Attorney General of the federation, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and other political appointees in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to file a suit challenging the section of the new Electoral Law.

The offensive section stops appointees from being delegates to parties’ convention unless they resign their appointments.

The move by the appointees followed the refusal of the National Assembly and the Senate in particular to abide by the gentleman agreement with President Mohamadu Buhari to amend the clause considered as being against the provision of the constitution.

It was a total victory for President Buhari and appointees at all levels of government as the court in a judgment delivered by Justice Evelyn Anyadike held that the section was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

According to the Judge, the section ought to have been struck down as it cannot stand when it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.

President Buhari, had while signing the amended Electoral Act, urged the National Assembly to delete the provision as it violated Constitution and breached the rights of government appointees.

The President further wrote a letter to both Chambers of the National Assembly seeking amendment by way of deleting the provision and was rejected by the Senate during plenary.

Justice Anyadike in the Suit marked FHC/UM/CS/26/2022 held that Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulated that appointees of government seeking to contest elections were only to resign at least 30 days to the date of the election.

The Judge maintained that any other law that mandated such appointees to resign or leave office at any time before that was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal null and void to the extent of its inconsistency to the clear provisions of the Constitution.

Counsel to the Plaintiff Emeka Ozoani, SAN while addressing newsmen stated that by this judgment, the National Assembly is not required to further make any amendments to the section.

The Senior lawyer pointed out that the import of this judgment is that Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act is no longer in existence or part of the Electoral Act.

The Judge thereafter ordered the Attorney General of the Federation to forthwith delete the said Subsection 12 of Section 84 from the body of the Electoral Act, 2022.