Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly seeking amendment of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, 2022 was in bad faith.
The governor maintained that the president lacks the power to determine whether Section 84(12), which he claims will disenfranchise serving political office holders, and conflict with provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Speaking in an interview with Channels TV on Friday night, the governor insisted that by faulting Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, the president was usurping the powers of the judiciary to interpret the law.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, and made available to newsmen.
“Unfortunately, what we have today is where the executive arm has taken the position and the role of the judiciary of interpreting the law.
“The legislature said this is what we have done, it is not the duty of Mr President to interpret that Act.
“The duty of Mr President is to assent to the bill, let those who are affected if at all, go to the court to challenge that particular provision. And not for Mr President to write to National Assembly to say there is a conflict.
‘That is a usurpation of the power of the judiciary. You want to make the judiciary to be idle,” Wike stated.
He described the recent passage of the bill granting full financial and administrative autonomy to local governments by the National Assembly as a welcome development.
“I believe that the local government should be autonomous, and the only way you solve this problem is that funds allocated and meant for local government should go to them directly.” he added.