The Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was given to the President on the 19th of November, to be signed and returned back to the National Assembly within the time stipulated by the constitution. The President declined his approval, stating that, signing it into law would cause inconvenience among the political parties in the country.

Buhari rejects Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

The letter of rejection, given to the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, will be read on Tuesday (today) at the plenary. President Muhammadu Buhari specified in the letter that; direct primaries as approved by the National Assembly for picking candidates by political parties in the Amended Electoral Act, as menacing to the constitution.

Garba Shehu, who happens to be the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed that the letter has been sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to a source, the President rejected the bill, saying there will be a serious outbreak if parties are forced to adopt direct primaries.

According to the source: “With all these reasons given by the President, he has returned the bill to the National Assembly, asking the lawmakers to look at the clause that has to do with direct primaries by political parties, work on it and return the document for assent”.

According to Senator Urhoghide, “We must be reminded that members of the National Assembly are truly the representatives of the people because every constituency and senatorial district seat is allocated to a segment of the Nigerian people who are their constituents.

“The members of the National Assembly consulted with a cross section of their constituents to reach an informed position on any matter of national interest and development.

“The issue of direct primaries in our electoral process has been well canvassed, elucidated, and argued by both chambers and inputs were taken at public hearing from across the spectrum of all critical stakeholders.

“The bane has always been that the greater majority of party members do not have the privilege or right to choose who becomes the party candidate in an election.