COURT ORDER: AGF Ready To Delete Section 84 (12) For Appointees To Run In Elections

The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Ministry of Justice headed by Abubakar Malami SAN has indicated willingness to give effect to the high Court judgment which ordered it to delete section 84 (12) of the 2022 Electoral Act (Amendment).

Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia on Friday declared that the said subsection is invalid, unconstitutional and of no effect and should be removed because it runs contrary to clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

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It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had while giving his assent to the Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly, urged the lawmakers to review and delete the provision, noting that it violated the rights of government appointees.

The said subsection 12 provides that “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

A lawyer and member of the Action Alliance (AA) party, Nduka Edede, had filed the suit challenging the constitutionality of the provision.

A statement released on Friday evening by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the AGF and Minister of Justice, indicated that the AGF would act according to the order by ensuring that it is properly gazetted and also recognized by government printers while printing the electoral Act.

The state reads: “The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will accordingly give effect to the court judgment in line with the dictates of the law and the spirit of the judgment.
“The judgment of the court will be recognized by the Government printers in printing the Electoral Act.

“The Act will be gazetted factoring the effect of the judgment into consideration and deleting the constitutionally offensive provision accordingly.

“The provision of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022 is not part of our law and will be so treated accordingly.

“This is in line with the dictates of chapter 7, Part 4, Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) on enforcement of decisions that makes it a point of duty and obligation on all authorities and persons to have the judgment of the federal High Court, among others, to be enforced.”