President Buhari Declines Assent To 2017 Electoral Bill For The 4th Time
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent presidential assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018passed by the National Assembly.
President Muhammadu Buhari in separate letter dated December 6, 2018 and addressed to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, said his action is pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)
Buhari pointedly said that he was declining assent to the Bill principally because he is concerned that passing a new electoral Bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.
He said that any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process.
Buhari further said; “This leads me to believe that it is in the best interest of the country and our democracy for the National Assembly to specifically state in the Bill that the Electoral Act will come into effect and be applicable to elections commencing after the 2019 General Elections.”
President Buhari also said that it important for the following drafting amendments to be made to the Bill;
- Section 5 of the Bill, amending Section 18 of the Principal Act, should indicate the subsection to which the substitution of the figure “30” for the figure “60” is to be effected.
- Section 11 of the Bill, amending Section 36 should indicate the subsection in which the proviso is to be introduced.
- Section 24 of the Bill which amends Section 85(1)should be redrafted in full as the introduction of the “electing” to the sentence may be interpreted to mean that political parties may give 21 days notice of the intention to merge, as opposed to the 90 days provided for merger of political parties.
- The definition of the term” Ward Collection Officer” should be revised to reflect a more descriptive definition than the capitalized and undefined term “Registration Area Collation Officer”.
