There are indications that barring any last-minute change, President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday give his long-awaited assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021.
Authoritative Presidency sources confirmed that the President would be performing his duty of assenting to the bill around 12pm Friday.
Sources close to the office of the President revealed that arrangements had been finalised for the President to sign the amendment bill into law, finally putting all anxieties and speculations to rest.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “All these anxieties will disappear by Friday afternoon.”
Public anxiety had mounted in the last few weeks over President Buhari’s delay in assenting to the re-amended bill, as some members of the public, as well as some critical stakeholders, have already concluded that he was withholding assent again, indefinitely.
The National Assembly transmitted the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 to President Buhari on January 31, a second time, having reportedly revised the bill, which he withheld his assent to for some reasons.
However, the President has yet to assent to the re-amended bill more than 20 days after it was transmitted to him, though he constitutionally has a 30-day window within which he is mandated to either assent or state reasons for not doing so.
”He will be signing the bill around noon of that day. I believe he has taken his time so that the Act can be as unassailable as much as possible,” the source further said.
Recall that the President had since November 2021 withheld his assent when he cited the cost of conducting direct primary elections, security challenges, and possible manipulation of electoral processes by political players as part of the reasons for his decision.
Read also: APC governors pressuring Buhari not to sign electoral act – Wike
He, however, gave some conditions to give his assent, prompting the lawmakers to re-work the bill which initially led to the emergence of two versions from the green and red chambers of the assembly.
The President had earlier on Wednesday met with top members of the National Assembly led by Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajaboamila, over the Electoral amendment Bill, 2022.
There was, however, no official statement on the outcome of the meeting, as the President proceeded to swear in new Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), before presiding over the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The Presidency had also on Monday revealed that the President was yet to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill, as he was still consulting with stakeholders.
At the meeting on Wednesday, Chairman of the INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, was sighted as the President inaugurated the new set of INEC Commissioners, recently approved by the National Assembly
The New INEC Commissioners sworn in by the President shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Council Chambers include, Mohammed Haruna, May Agbamuche-Mbu, Ukaegbu Kenneth Nnamdi, A.B. Alkali, a retired Major General, Rhoda Gumus and Sam Olumekun.
BusinessDay gathered that the presence of the high-level officials of the Legislative Arm of government had raised hopes that the Bill would receive the President’s assent.
The Presidency had on Monday revealed that the President has until the 1st of March, 2022 to assent to the Bill while urging Nigerians to patiently await the outcome of the current consultations.
The Bill, which was passed recently, was sent to the President for his assent on the 31st of January.
The delays in assenting to the Bill has attracted reactions from concerned stakeholders who urged the President to sign the bill as it will give directions to the INEC in the conduct of elections, especially the 2023 general elections.
Issues addressed in the new Bill include the controversy over direct and indirect primary election methods.
The direct primary allows all approved registered members of a party to vote for who they want to be the candidate of their party in the main elections
On the other hand, the indirect primary election allows only delegates selected by the party to decide who will be the party’s candidate.
A third clause was, however, added to the new amendment which is the consensus, which allows the party to select those they want without necessarily subjecting it to the election process.
But in a statement on Monday, Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina said the President still had enough time before the 30 days window provided by the Constitution for his assent.
Adesina however, alleged that some interest groups were cashing in on what they consider a delay in the signing of the Electoral Bill into law “to foment civil disorder and muddy the waters.”
He failed to name the group, but assured that “the right thing will be done at the right time.”
According to him, “One can just pity their ignorance of Constitutional requirements, as the President has a window of 30 days within which to sign the Bill, or decline assent after it had been transmitted to him by the National Assembly.
“It is on record that the amended Bill was sent to the Presidency on January 31, 2022, which means that the Executive could do due diligence on it till March 1, as prescribed by the Constitution.”
He posited that “A proposed legislation that has to do with the electoral fortunes of the country needs to be thoroughly scrutinised, and be made as near-perfect as possible.
“Those playing cheap politics with it are, therefore, encouraged to hold their peace, knowing that the right thing will be done within the lawful time.”
