President Kaftan TV and Founder of the Law House, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has admonished President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the reworked electoral act amendment bill as it’s crucial to credible 2023 election
He said the president would be doing himself good to expeditiously assent to the bill as a legacy that he would be remembered for years to come.
This was coming just after opposition federal lawmakers in the national assembly also asked the president to assent to the reworked Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 without further delay.
The lawmakers, under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Assembly caucus, had alleged that Governors of the ruling party were lobbying the President against assenting to the bill.
Prince Adebayo a product of the National Consultative Front (NCfront) who announced officially that he is in the race for presidency come 2023 said the lawmakers who were crying at the national assembly are Hypocrites adding that their selfish interests is causing Nigeria the golden opportunity to make history.
According to him, his group had started deliberating on the issue by trying to give the country a good electoral act.
Adebayo lashed out at the lawmakers who he described as selfish for refusing to put what the people wanted in the bill
‘”In October 2021, I was at a hotel in Abuja when we held a conference on electoral act and the things we canvassed that the National Assembly should put in the electoral bill because of their selfish interest they did not incorporate many of them.
“Even what they have put which is for them to survive the over lordship of their Governors, the Governor’s kept lobbying and those who have self centered ideas in the presidency also lobbied the President not to sign.
“The bill was kicked back to the national Assembly, they removed the things the president complained about and have sent it to the president.”
He said whether the president is going to sign it depends on whether he wants to be the president of the people or the president of politicians.
“It is a question whether President Buhari wants to leave a legacy that people can remember him for that I can not help him with but what I can say to the Nigerian people is that we need a new electoral act, the bill sent to the President is not one of the best but is an improvement over the one we are using now.
“We should mount pressure on the president so he can sign the electoral bill into an act.”
“It is an unserious country that signs electoral bill every election, some countries have been using the same electoral law for decades
“What we need to change is to realize that the electoral act which we are using now has not expired, what we are doing now is an attempt to improve upon it.
“What we need to improve upon the most is our character because everybody has a role to play. I am an aspirant now I have a role to play whether I want to do money politics or issue based politics.
“Money politics is easier if you can find the money but issue based politics is better for the country. “Those who are party functionaries they have to make up their minds whether they want to do politics for the country or they want to do a bazaar or harvest season from various aspirants and candidates and cause commotion.
“The same thing for the media whether you will want to give coverage to the ones that have the big money or you want to cover those with big ideas, that one does not depend on Buhari, it depends on you, the editors and the owners of your media houses.
“The same thing with the voters, whether you want to collect N5000 or you want to collect good Government in four years. It is up to you it does not depend on the electoral act.
“The same thing with the policeman whether he wants to make money now from those who are snatching ballots or he continues to live in that terrible police barracks, where his children have no future or he respect the law and let people vote and let the votes count.
“So I don’t want a situation where we point fingers, I don’t point fingers, all I know is that the president should sign the electoral act so that at least to able to live up to his oath of office which says that he will protect the interest of the federal Republic of Nigeria.
He said he can only advocate adding that the other thing he can do is he can run his campaign in an honest, credible and competent way that will show to people that he can be entrust the country.
On his presidential ambition he reminded Nigerians that the President that Nigerias are going to elect is not a president of 2022, he is a president that will still be there by 2027 that is who we are going to elect.
“So there is no way you can elect Atiku without giving him as part of the oath of office a walking stick because he will be 79.999 years so it doesn’t work.
“We are talking about the future I am not saying I want to go to the Villa now and take over today, No.
“I am saying the future is 2023, next year, someone of my age, energy and commitment would be the one you should be looking for and whatever party you say you belong, PDP, APC whatever, if you are not able to find someone like that within your party to come and trade ideas with me then you are not ready for the future. .
Adebayo who is yet to disclose the party platform on which he will run said the party would be unveiled next month.
Adebayo, who officially announced his presidential bid for the 2023 election, disclosed that the country is overwhelmed by insecurity and other national vices because lawlessness has remained the order of the day.
He said he would be the consensus candidate of the coalition that would emerge to displace the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the coming general elections.
He added that Nigerians who want good governance are in the majority and he has consulted with them so as to form a coalition that would remove the two major parties.
Adebayo said his decision not to run on any of the two major parties was because he was not ready to manage their respective breaches of the public trust which they carried out in governance.