Many senators are spoiling for war over President Buhari’s rejection of the amended electoral bill. Among the bitter senators is Ajibola Bashiru, the spokesman of the Red chamber, who has knocked the president for throwing the document back at the National assembly.
Bashiru, a former commissioner in Osun state said the president was wrong to reject the bill, describing Buhari’s action as ‘presumptuous’.
President Buhari retuned the bill to the NASS on Monday, after he failed to sign the bill within the 30 days window provided in the Constitution for him to either sign or reject the bill. The bill was sent to him on November 30.
Among reasons cited by the president for rejection the bill is a provision in the bill which mandates political parties to conduct direct primary in selecting their candidates for election. The president said the amendment is a violation of the Constitution and that direct primary will pose serious security challenges for the country, among other reasons.
But speaking on the issue, Bashiru said it is unthinkable that the president could reject the bill in spite of massive support it has received among various interest groups across the country. The former commissioner of Justice in Osun state said there are many options available to the senators after President Buhari withheld his assent, one of which is to override the president.
The senator who spoke to Channesl Television said Buhari’s reasons were untenable.
According to him, there “are the four options before the national assembly. And I believe the national assembly, at the fullest of time, will be able to take those options.
“It is very important to say that as members of the national assembly, we are approaching this issue not out of any sense of egotism or any sense of power tussle with anybody.
“But we will consider it based on counter arguments that may be canvassed against whatever reasons the president had given.”
He explained that citing cost as one of the reasons for Buhari to reject the bill is ‘presumptous’, noting that no election process is without huge cost.
He said, “for instance, the argument on the cost that had been raised by Mr president, with respect, is presumptuous and totally fallacious. There is nothing that is given that primary election must be conducted on a ward basis; it could as well be conducted either on a quarterly basis or on a local government basis.
“As regards argument on smaller political parties, smaller political parties may decide to even organise their direct primary at the state level.
“On the issue of security, an extension of that argument will be that because we have security challenges, then we should not even hold the 2023 elections; this is if we want to use what logicians called reductio ad absurdum, that is reducing the argument to the level of absurdity.”
Meanwhile, many senators have vowed to override the president on the bill. Reports said on Tuesday that over 70 senators signatures have been gathered by those bent on overruling the president on the issue.
According to the constitution, the Senate requires only 73 senators, which is two third of the members of the chamber to override the president when he rejects any bill sent to him.
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