Deletion of Section 84 (12) of 2022 Electoral Act: It’s work in progress, says Malami

Following the judgment of the Federal High Court, Umuahia, Abia State, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) says deletion of the contentious Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022 is in progress.

“What I am saying in effect is deletion of Section 84 Subsection 12 is a work in progress and is being considered as such.

“My clear response arising there from is the fact that truly there exist a court judgment,” the minister told reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.

Persecondnews.com quotes the Section as: “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.”

Answering reporters’ questions on the implementation of the court judgment, Malami said the process was on.

“By the judgment, the court directed the Office of the Attorney General to take the necessary steps to delete the provision which in essence implies that the provision should not form part of our laws.

“Whether it has been deleted, or has not been deleted, is indeed a function of agencies of government and associated relevant parastatals.

“But the true position of it in that respect, is the fact that government printers, and indeed Law Reform Commission among others that are responsible for the codification and gazeting of our laws, are working naturally, hand in hand with the Office of the Attorney General for the purpose of ensuring that what goes into our laws are indeed in line with the provision of the law.

“So what I am saying in essence, it is indeed a work in progress against the background of the fact that the Law Reform Commission is involved statutorily which is a parastatal under the Office of the Attorney General is a party to the process of codification.

“The government printers, which is saddled with the responsibility of gazetting our laws on the request of the Office of the Attorney General is equally involved.”

On possible appeal of the judgment by stakeholders in the polity, Malami did not rule such appeal against the deletion of the section after President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent.

“And above all, as you rightly stated, the possibility of an appeal is equally there.”