President Muhammadu Buhari says he rejected the electoral amendment bill
because it could affect the 2019 elections. The president said this in a
letter sent to the national assembly.
In the letter, Buhari said signing the bill into law could “create uncertainty and confusion” during the forthcoming elections.
“Pursuant to section 58 (4) of constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to
the House of Representatives, my decision on 6th December 201 to decline
Presidential Accent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill , 2018 recently
passed by the National Assembly,” he wrote.
“I am declining
assent to the Bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new
electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general
election which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create
some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.
“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 appealed to the
lawmakers to revise some clauses in the bill, expressing optimism that
it would take effect after the elections.
“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 Election,” he said.
“It is also
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 affected.
“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 in Section 84 (2) of the
Electoral Act which provides the provision for merge 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.”
This
is the third time that the president would reject the bill. In March,
Buhari withheld assent to the bill saying the proposed law would usurp
the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to decide on election matters.
In September, Buhari turned down the bill for the second time, asking the national assembly to revise some clauses.
The national assembly had passed the bill on July 24 and transmitted to the president on August 3.
Among
the controversies on the bill are the reordering of the sequence of the
2019 elections, placing the presidential poll last, instead of the
governorship and state assemblies, and also exclusion of the use of card
readers during elections.
