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Electoral Amendment Bill: Nigerian Senate To Discuss Buhari's Letter Declining Assent

December 21, 2021

The letter was received on Tuesday by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to be discussed by the Senators later in the day.

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a letter to the National Assembly informing of his decision not to assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The letter was received on Tuesday by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to be discussed by the Senators later in the day.

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Recall that in a report on December 9, 2021, President Buhari declined to assent to the Bill citing reasons.

Some of the reasons President Buhari gave in the letter to the National Assembly included the provision making direct primaries compulsory for political parties and insecurity.

Some weeks ago, SaharaReporters reported that Buhari wrote the Independent National Electoral Commission's Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, seeking advice over the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021.

Buhari, in the letter, sought comments on the controversial sole adoption of direct primary option for parties to produce candidates for elections among other key issues ahead of 2023 general elections.

The Senate had recently passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and approved that all political parties must use the direct primary mode in picking candidates.

It also approved the electronic transmission of results.

The development, however, sparked outrage with some governors and lawmakers sharing different views on the matter.

Senate President, Lawan, had earlier said the expectation of members of the National Assembly was that Buhari would sign Electoral Bill 2021 into law.

He called for more engagements to be coordinated by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to resolve any form of disagreement and assuage the feelings of governors who were not happy over the direct primary option.

The president was supposed to by December 19, sign the bill or communicate to the National Assembly his feelings and comments about the bill.

The Senate and the House of Representatives can recall the bill and pass it if after 30 days the president refuses to sign the bill.

The bill automatically becomes a law even without the signature of the President if it is passed in the form it was sent to the President by two-thirds majority votes in both chambers.

Topics
Elections