Electoral Act: Reps to reconsider bill on Wednesday

The House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to reconsider the Electoral Amendment Bill after President Muhammadu Buhari rejected it.

Recall that the President had rejected the bill due to the direct primaries clause in the bill.

However, following the rejection, there have been calls for the National Assembly to override the President’s veto.

During assembly, Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the lawmakers had two options, either veto the President or reconsider the bill as the President would not sign the bill in its present form.

According to him, “Unfortunately, that bill did not receive presidential assent and it is unlikely that it will receive assent in its current form.

“Now we have to choose between sticking to our guns regarding the provision to mandate direct primaries for political parties or reworking that provision to save the rest of the bill.

“Let it be clear that our only objective in introducing that provision is to strengthen our democracy,” Gbajabiamila said.

He noted that the lawmakers would list the bill for reconsideration on Wednesday.