By Uche Mbah
After dilly-dallying and several back and forth with the Senate , President Muhammadu Buhari Friday signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into Law.
At a signing ceremony held at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Chambers at the Presidential Villa, Buhari finally appended his signature to the Bill.
Present at the signing ceremony were Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Kayode Fayemi, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) .
Buhari sent the Bill to the National Assembly last January, which reworked it and sent it back to him.
But he was irked that the National Assmebly made Direct Primaries for political parties compulsory, and for that sent it back to the National Assembly.
According to him, the provision “violates the spirit of democracy”.
The Senate and House of Representatives bent backwards to accommodate his objections to make provisions for Indirect and Direct Primary, as well as consensus candidates.
The Bill, also, provides for Electronic Transmission of election results.
