President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the reworked Electoral Amendment bill into law on Friday, the 25th of February 2022.
Keep in mind that this bill has been going back and forth from the lawmakers to the presidency and the president instead of signing it always raises observations and sends it back to the lawmakers to make some amendments and address the observations raised by the Mr president. This has been going on for about five times now until the president in his infinite wisdom and mercy finally decided to append his gracious signature to the bill.
This signing of the bill caused wild celebrations across all the political, religious and tribal divides of Nigeria as many people have been lauding and adoring the majestic deed of the Mr. President and congratulating Nigerians that president Buhari finally signed the electoral bill after the President has rejected the bill for about five times.
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The celebration of this (so called heroic) deed of just signing a bill is just a way Nigerians extol mediocrity and it is quite embarrassing; embarrassing to every Nigerian, both the rulers and the rule.
It is a clear indication that Nigerians have been fed with nothing for so long that a little act (like the president signing a bill into law) feels like a magnanimous act, like “something hooge”, so “hooge” that it calls for celebration.
The celebration is quite daunting because it is marred in falsehood and ignorance, the ignorance of the fact the president signing bills into law is his statutory duty as a president. It is a function provided by the Constitution for the president to sign bills into law after it has passed through the due legislative processes and if a president can no longer sign bills into law then he should not be at the helm of power. The inability to sign bills into law is a grievous laxity and it is an impeachable one.
The law makers can impeach a president on the ground that he can no longer assent bills due to medical conditions or ineptitudes….
but it seems that Nigerians don’t know this or maybe we know that but we are just so tired of this political dispensation that we are no longer looking forward to or any longer expecting anything politically “Hooge” from the government and the simple act of the president signing the bill was so overwhelming to us as we never expected it and the joy swept us off our feet; Or that this administration knows how to create political propagandas and public stunts to score cheap political points out of a mere act of executive function of signing bills.
Whatever the reason is for the celebration; it is truly embarrassing to be a Nigerian at this moment, the moment that the president signing a bill into law will call for a wild jubilation across the country.
Every Nigerian should be ashamed of how much our political system and governance have decayed to this extent. I for one as an (ir)responsible citizen and my fellow comrades were expecting the presidency to declare a seven days national public holiday over the president’s ability and capacity to assent bills and also ordering the military to give seven gun salutes to the mr. President and trade unions like Wuse Market women association to gather at the aso rock villa or national stadium and give seven gbosas to the president for his ability to finally assent the electoral bill and students of Gwarimpa primary school and other unity schools dress in their blazing school attires for a match pass and salute his excellency for the majestic deed of signing the bill after five attempts and the government should not also forget to declare a national celebration and competitions to cap it all up at the end of the national public holidays.
….I bet you see how embarrassing this is even in the humor? I’m glad you got and appreciate the sarcasm.
When will Nigeria get out of this sailing-sinking ship of political decadence of political officers taking nothing and turning it into something for cheap political scores. I can boldly predict that one of the political campaigns of the ruling party henceforth will be “vote for apc if you want a president that will sign bills into law” and if the current president will be contesting again, his political campaign will be “vote for Pmb for continuity, he signed the electoral bill into law and he can do it again”
The sad truth is that Nigerians buy these political public stunts and propagandas and swallow everything hook line and sinker:
When we are done with the signing jubilation then we can take a break to thoroughly digest the electoral act properly and review some of the clauses especially clause 84(12) which the president specifically mentioned that the lawmakers should expunge or amend, till then, let the celebration continue.