Electoral Act Modification With out Enforcement Is Waste of Time — Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has stated that amending the Electoral Act with out correct enforcement is a whole waste of time.

Falana made the comment on Sunday throughout an interview on Come up Tv, monitored by DAILY POST.

In response to him, Nigeria’s problem will not be the absence of legal guidelines, however the unwillingness of the political class to implement current ones.

He famous that ideology and high quality illustration not matter in Nigerian politics, as politicians are extra involved about private acquire from get together defections.

Falana defined that elected officers freely abandon the events that introduced them into workplace, transfer to new events with out penalties, and that this development poses a severe threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

“We function in an environment of reckless impunity. The continuing modification train is time-wasting if there is no such thing as a enforcement. We have already got very stiff penalties for vote-buying, thuggery, and different electoral offences,” he stated.

He added that the political class and ruling events have constantly did not deploy regulation enforcement businesses to arrest and prosecute electoral offenders.

Falana additional recalled that way back to 2008, the Wale Panel beneficial the institution of an Electoral Offences Fee to research and prosecute offenders, however no authorities has applied the advice.

“No regime, together with people who campaigned on electoral reforms, has deemed it essential to set it up. So what’s the huge deal now?” he requested.

He additionally criticised proposals to extend marketing campaign spending limits, noting that current limits are already routinely violated.

“The one political problem that appears to matter in Nigeria at present is the gale of defections, but no one is addressing it, not even within the proposed amendments,” Falana stated.