Sign Electoral Bill Now, PDP Governors Advise Buhari

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) met in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, yesterday, over the state of the nation and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.

The governors under the aegis of PDP Governors’ Forum said President Buhari delaying to sign the bill and waiting for 30 days to elapse is yet another sign of the unwillingness of the president to give Nigeria a reformed electoral framework.

After over five hours meeting, they said if there are still misgivings on any aspect of the bill, amendments may be introduced at a later stage.

The governors in attendance include Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, who is also the vice chairman, Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa), Gov. Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Gov. Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), host Governor, Gov Douye Diri (Bayelsa ), Gov. Samuel Ortom(-Benue),Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta ), Gov. Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Gov. Oluseyi Makinde (Oyo) and Gov. Nyesom Wike(Rivers).

In a communique read by the Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, they congratulated PDP for winning 43 of the 62 councillorship positions in the Abuja Area Council election results, just concluded.

According to the communique,” In spite of improvements in the conduct of elections, the Gwagwalada and Abuja Area Council results show that manipulations are still possible.

They urged INEC to tighten all observed loopholes and further improve on the functioning of the BIVAS Machine for future elections.”

The governors, while expressing their displeasure on the issue of contaminated fuel supplied to Nigerians and urged government to bring perpetrators to account, they frowned at the duplicity, inconsistency, and insincerity of the APC led federal government on the fuel subsidy regime, which has been badly and corruptly administered.

Ikpeazu said, “The figures of consumption and ascribed to Nigerians appear fictitious and bloated. They called for proper investigation to be conducted on this matter. The Forum welcomed the Court decision on Police Trust Fund deductions from the Federation Account, a suit at the instance of Rivers State and urged the Federal Government to stop similar unconstitutional deductions from the Federation Account.”

“In the same vein, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission should expedite action on the new Revenue Allocation formula in such a way as to increase allocation to states and local government. The Forum once again deplored the way and manner the CBN is being run as an alternate government, indeed, a government within a government. It is time to streamline its functions and processes to be constitutionally compliant.”

“The Forum once again decried the opaque nature of NNPC operations. They called for accountability and reconciliation of NNPC remittances into the federation account.”

“As the National Assembly winds down this current phase of the Constitution Review exercise, the Forum urged that they revisit the issue of devolution of more powers to the states and local governments. This opportunity to rejig the framework for policing and securing Nigeria should not be missed. To this end, the Forum would set up a Panel of Consultants to have a thorough look at the security architecture of Nigeria and make recommendations.”

The governors also urged the National Assembly to transfer some items from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent List.

The PDP governs commended Diri on his second anniversary in office as he has made a positive difference for the people of Bayelsa State. They thanked him for being such a gracious and wonderful host.