Admin l Tuesday, December 21, 2021
ABUJA, Nigeria – President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is withholding his assent to the 2022 Electoral Amendment Bill. The President made the revelation in his letter to President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday.
In the letter, President Buhari cited the imposition of direct primaries by the National Assembly for picking candidates by political parties in the amended Electoral Act as one of the reasons, adding that it is a violation of the spirit of democracy.
According to Buhari, with Direct primaries, there will be plethora of litigation from party members and stakeholders, just as he said that allowing the process would fuel corruption as well as encourage over monitorization.
In the letter read during plenary after the Senators came out from a closed-door session, President Buhari said that Direct Primaries would raise credibility issues as well as lead to undue interference.
Buhari also said that he withheld his assent to the bill based on Direct primaries because it would cause a huge financial burden on political parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the economy and security agencies and that the process is undemocratic.
In the letter, Buhari requested the Senate to quickly Consider 2021 Appropriation virement of N13.588 trillion to fund infrastructure.
The National Assembly had on Tuesday, 9th November 2021, passed the much anticipated Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 after both the Senate and the House of Representatives deliberated extensively on the report of the Conference Committee on the bill and reconciled position of both houses before forwarding the 2022 Electoral Act Amended Bill to Buhari.
