‘Ongoing Electoral Act Amendment Is Waste Of Time Without Enforcement’ – Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has stated that the ongoing Electoral Act amendment is a waste of time without enforcement.

Naija News reports that Falana made the remark during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ programme.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the country is operating in an atmosphere of reckless impunity, noting the absence of a penalty for vote buying and thuggery during elections.

According to him, the problem is not the absence of laws, but the refusal of the political class to enforce them.

Falana also faulted the ongoing gale of defections, stressing that politicians are not facing any consequences, and it is the real threat to the nation’s democracy.

He 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 a very steep penalties on 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 Wale panel recommended the establishment of an electoral offenses commission to arrest offenders and prosecute them. No regime, including the one that campaigned for electoral reforms, has ever thought of setting up that now, what is the big deal now?

“We want to increase campaign funds and nobody has ever complied with that. The only important political point in Nigeria today is the gale of defections, and nobody is talking of that, even in the proposed amendment.”