Electoral Bill: Inaction Is Not An Option, Says Saraki

By Uche Mbah

The immediate past President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has  said that the National Assembly must act immediately to tackle the disagreement between them and the Presidency over the Electoral bill.

Both legislative Chambers have passed the bill and forwarded same for Presidential assent.

But President Muhammadu Buhari has returned the bill to the National Assembly, objecting to a clause that mandated Direct Primaries for the internal selection of officers and flag bearers by political parties, insisting that it must be left at the discretion of the parties involved.

The Senate, after collecting over seventy signatures in favor of overriding the President, balked at the last minute and decided to sit quietly on the fence.

But Saraki, in a release personally signed by him, said the Senate must act in the shortest possible time.

“We cannot sit back and allow one contentious clause to throw away all the positives in the proposed Electoral Act [amendment] Bill”, he said.

The release read in part:

“Now that Mr. President has conveyed his decision to decline assent to the Electoral Act [amendment] Bill, I am sure that I speak on behalf of millions of Nigerians in urging the National Assembly to act fast.

“This is because we cannot sit back and allow one contentious clause to throw away all the positives in the proposed Electoral Act [amendment] Bill.

“At this point, two options are open to the National Assembly. They either veto the president’s decline of assent or remove the contentious provision on direct primaries and send it back to the president for his assent.

“Whichever option, our legislators choose, can be accomplished in the shortest possible time. We could have a new electoral law in January 2022.

“Anyone that has been following the mood of the nation knows that Nigerians desire to have a new electoral law that will lead to having a credible, free, fair, and peaceful process of electing our leaders.

“They want a system that will ensure that their votes truly count in the election of those who govern them.

“This is why, as the representatives of the Nigerian people, the National Assembly must take a decision in the interest of our nation and its long-term democracy. The option of not doing anything after the refusal of the assent by the President is not an option.

“This proposed electoral law is expected to reassure the youths, many of whom steer clear of the political process because they have no confidence in the system. They believe the system is usually rigged and compromised. One way to bring this active demography into the political system is to enact a new law that will give them hope in our nation. This Electoral Act [Amendment] Bill serves that purpose.

“Our legislators in both chambers of the National Assembly and Mr. President must ensure that it becomes a law without delay”, he concluded.