From Jonas Ike, Abuja
The House of Representatives was on Thursday polarized on the basis of party affliations during the debate on a bill seeking an amendment to the Public Holidays Act to recognize June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria as against the choice of May 29 it is usually marked annually.
The Bill was entitled: ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Public Holidays Ac,t Cap40 LFN 2004 to bring the Act in tandem with the current realities and exigencies of modern times and to declare June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria and for Related Matters’ sponsored by Hon Edward Pwajok (Plateau,APC) and Hon Kayode Oladele (Ogun, APC).
After the debate on the general principles of the proposed legislation which Pwajok hinted is to be done as a mark of post humous honour to Chief MKO Abiola who was acclaimed winner of June 12,1993 Presidential election, lawmakers of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party tookbtime to criticise the propriety of the action.
Not even President Muhammadu Buhari and APC lawmaker who said that the amendment to the Public Holiday Act to move Democracy Day to June 12 every year was to strengthen democratic practices in the country was spared during the heated debate on the bill by other lawmakers.
Speaking against the proposal, Hon Jones Onyereri (Imo, PDP) said that the bill ought to have been presented to the National Assembly before the proclamation by the President to that effect.
He therefore insisted that the bill be presented as an executive bill and not a private member bill from a lawmaker.
Similarly, Hon Sergius Ogun (Edo, PDP) said that President Buhari who truncated democracy in Nigeria in 1983 is not in a good position to declare June 12 Democracy Day the manner he did it.
Apparently making jest at the APC led Federal Government he said that a monkey cannot give birth to a lion adding that those who do not have internal democracy in the running of their party should not be talking of democracy which its hallmark is free and fair elections.
On his own part, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (Rivers,PDP) asked questions regarding the propriety of moving the Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 every year.He said: “what is the spirit behind the amendment?.
He argued that even if we change democracy day to June 12 we must observe the May 29 public holidays every four years as a day of inauguration of a new government in Nigeria.
Nonetheless, some other lawmakers of the ruling APC fired back as they stoutly opposed their PDP counterparts saying that ruling party is committed to provide the enabling environment for democracy and it’s tenets to thrive in Nigeria.
APC lawmakers who spoke in favour of the bill including Hon.Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Abia,APC) and Hon. Gudaji Kazaure (Jigawa, APC) said that the President Buhari who initially declared June 12 as public holiday did so out of democracy blood running down in his vein.
Whereas Onyejeocha said that since Buhari has said that the nation will have a free and fair general elections, and the onus is on the citizenry to hold him accountable to it, Kazaure said that we must not repeat the mistake of the past which our children would continue to read as our nation’s sad history.
He added that the bill is well intended and urged that it passes through stages of the legislative process as proposed by the lawmakers.
Consequently the Speaker Hon. Yakubu Dogara pleaded that national unity and cohesion be put first by both the proponents and opponents of the bill and put the matter to a voice voice.
Dogara said that the supporters of the bill had outnumbered the opposition to it during the voting and the bill scaled second reading and was committed to the Committee of the Whole for further inputs