The immediate past President of Nigerian Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has advised the National Assembly to remove the contentious provision of Direct Primary inserted in the amended Electoral Bill and send it back to the President to sign it into law.
Giving options to the Parliament, Dr. Saraki advised the leadership of the National Assembly to veto the President’s decline of assent or remove Buhari concerns on the bill.
In a Press Statement signed by the immediate past President of the Senate and posted on his official Facebook page monitored by 9News Nigeria, Dr. Saraki said:
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 he said it’s “because we cannot sit back and allow one contentious clause to throw away all the positives in the proposed Electoral Act [amendment] Bill”.
Whichever option the National Assembly chooses, Saraki said can be accomplished in the shortest possible time.
“The option of not doing anything after the refusal of the assent by the President is not an option” the former leader of Nigerian Senate advised.
Considering the country public outcry and the high expectations of the youths in a credible electoral process Saraki said:
“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.
