Nigerian Senate has held a closed-door session after President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to the Electoral Act Amendment bill.
Gatekeepers News reports that Nigeria lawmakers have discussed President Buhari’s letter in which he explained his refusal to sign the bill.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan after the closed-door session quoted President Buhari as saying he declined assent over the direct primaries clause.
Lawan added that the President reached the decision having received strong advice and carefully reviewed the bill and in light of present realities.
According to the President’s letter, the direct primaries will have serious adverse legal and financial consequences which cannot be accommodated just as the clause will have implications on the right of Nigerians to take part in governance.
Buhari stressed that the conduct of direct primaries will lead to a significant spike in the cost of conducting elections, maintaining that this will mean a huge financial burden on political parties and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The President added that amending the bill to only accommodate direct primaries will stifle smaller parties, and thus not healthy for multi-party democracy.
Buhari added that this will throw up security challenges, stressing that this will overstretch security agents because of the large turnout of party members who will vote in direct primaries.
He noted that the proposed amendment will give rise to a plethora of litigation, adding that he is constrained to withhold assent to the bill on the premise of all the points noted above.
The President stated that political parties should be able to pick how they decide to choose candidates for elections.
This, however, did not go well with some lawmakers, prompting the Senate to go into another closed-door session following the request of Senator George Sekibo that the house should go into a closed-door session to discuss Buhari’s letter.
Sekibo said the Senate must discuss the President’s letter and take a decision on it.
Our sources disclosed that some Senators are compiling a list in the chamber presumably to veto the President.
The Senate adjourned the sitting to Wednesday after the closed-door session ended which means they are not going on recess (Tuesday) as planned.
The upper chamber’s move was sequel to earlier indications that Buhari had declined assent to the bill citing the direct primaries clause in the Electoral Amendment Act.
The President’s move has generated several critics, including Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who stated that he believes the President’s move is not connected to the direct mode of primaries.
Wike claimed that the President’s decision was due to his fears over the electronic transmission of the result clause, but noted that Buhari has no reason to decline assent to the bill.
The former minister said, “The ruling party in their conspiracy is trying to deceive Nigerians that the mere inclusion of the direct primaries in the electoral act amendment bill is the problem why the President does not want to sign or why he has refused to sign.
“The major issue is the transmission, the electronic transmission of results.”
