RSVP Newsletter February 23, 2022 (II)

Mr. President, Do What's Right!

February 24, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Thursday, February 24, 2022

“Nigeria is critical to the rest of the continent and if Nigeria does not get it right, Africa will really not make more progress.”

- Barrack Obama

(Former President of the United States)

Dear Active Citizen,

One of the most important roles of a democratic president is to protect, sustain and deepen democratic institutions and governance. That is why we must continue to spotlight the Electoral Bill, 2022, until the President signs it into law.On January 31st, the National Assembly transmitted the Electoral Bill to the President for assent after expeditiously reworking the bill to meet his request on mode of primaries. More than 3 weeks after, the President is yet to assent to the bill.

Section 28 (1) of the Electoral Bill, 2022, requires that INEC issues a notice of election not later than 360 days before the day appointed for an election. Tuesday, February 22nd, was exactly 360 days to the proposed date for the next Presidential and National Assembly elections, slated for February 18, 2023.EiE joined 24 other CSOs and active citizens in a peaceful protest at the Unity Fountain, Abuja on Tuesday to demand that the President assents to the Electoral Bill and send any amendments to the National Assembly at a later date.Unfortunately, Mr President did not sign the Bill on Tuesday and he has still not signed it! He has declined signing the bill into law on 5 five different occasions since 2018. 

Active Citizens! To take advantage of the provisions in the Bill to have free, fair and credible elections, we must continue to demand that Mr President signs the Bill. Additionally, engage your legislators to demand they sign the bill into law in the event that Mr President declines to assent.Visit www.shineyoureye.org to know who represents you.

Whilst we demand that the President does what is right, remember to register for your PVC. There is only one way to change the narrative of incompetent leadership in Nigeria - register to vote. We cannot keep entrusting the delicate responsibility of electing leaders in the hands of a select few.Let's us collectively #MakeNaijaWork

Enjoy the rest of the week.The EiE Nigeria Team