Controversy over direct primary clause in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill may soon end.
President Muhammadu Buhari may sign the Bill as passed and transmitted to him on November 19 by the National Assembly, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, hinted yesterday.
In a memo, the National Assembly sent the Bill for the President’s consideration and assent.
But, governors across party lines kicked against the introduction of the direct primary mode into the amended Bill by federal lawmakers, who in turn defended their action, saying it will deepen democracy.
The President has 12 days more to either assent or decline the Bill.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television programme, ‘Politics Today’, Adesina said the Bill, when passed to law, would enhance Nigeria’s electoral process.
He said deepening the electoral process was dear to his principal’s heart.
The special adviser was reacting to a question on a response by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Buhari request for advice on the contentious clause.
An unverified report said INEC, in its response, advised the President to go ahead and sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
A Presidency source said INEC was of the view that the bill contains substantial provisions that would lay a solid foundation for the improvement of the electoral process.
Corroborating the perceived INEC’s view, Adesina said: “The President is there to ensure that things are donein a proper way and since the new law would enhance the electoral process, I am sure the president would do the best for the country.”
Although, he said there was no need for anybody to be apprehensive, Adesina added that the president would do what is best for the country.
Explaining why the president declined assent to a similar bill in 2018, Adesina said the pending Bill on Mr. President’s table was brought in a proper and acceptable way.
He said: “Now, this has been brought in good time and as long as it would do Nigeria and Nigerians well, the president will do the needful.”
According to him, the president was yet to sign the law because he was still making wide consultations with all the stakeholders.
Adesina, who said the law was a work in progress, assured that the president will act in public interest.
“The proposed amendment to our Electoral Act is a work in progress. The President still has enough time within which he should sign and be rest assured that the president will do what is best for the country,” he said.
The spokesperson disclosed that the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation was being carried along in the whole process.
He said: “There are certain things that can’t be done without the input of the attorney-general and this is one of the cases which are right within the purview of the minister and so he is being carried along.”
Adesina assured that President Buhari was set to bequeath electoral processes far better than what he inherited, when he assumed office in 2015.
Asked what his advice would be to the president on the law, Adesina said all clauses within the proposed law should be “critically considered, so that, at the end, the country would be better for it”.
A House of Representative member, Mark Gbilla, who also featured on the programme, urged the president to assent the bill, which he described to be the best for the country.
