Falana also noted that what matters in Nigeria today is not ideology or the quality of representation, but the gains to be made from defections. By Kehinde Okeowo
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights activist Femi Falana has said that the Electoral Act amendments will be an exercise in futility if they are not enforced.
He made this known on Sunday while appearing as a guest on a programme on Arise Television.
According to Falana, the problem is not the absence of laws, but the refusal of the political class to enforce them.
While addressing the gale of defections among political parties in the country, the senior lawyer added that what matters today in Nigeria is not ideology or quality of representation, but the gain from such a move.
He noted that people abandon the parties that elected them, embrace new ones, and face no consequences, stressing that such actions are the real threat to the nation’s democracy.
Speaking during the interview, Falana said: “We operate in an atmosphere of reckless impunity. The ongoing amendment exercise is time-wasting if there’s no enforcement. We have always had very steep penalties for the purchase of votes, thuggery, and the rest of them.
“But members of the political class—the ruling parties—have never sent the engine to arrest and deal with electoral offenders.
“As far back as 2008, the Uwais panel recommended the establishment of an electoral offences commission to arrest offenders and prosecute them. No regime, including the one that campaigned for electoral reforms, has ever thought of setting up that commission. What is the big deal now?
“We want to increase campaign funds, yet nobody has ever complied with the rules. The only important political point in Nigeria today is the gale of defections, and nobody is talking about that, even in the proposed amendment.”..See More
