Investment banker and founder of ANAP Foundation, Atedo Peterside, along with many other Nigerians, joined the call for the President to fulfil his democratic obligation regarding the 2022 Electoral Bill. This follows a protest by about 25 civil society organisations in Abuja on Tuesday demanding that President Buhari sign the proposed electoral bill.
“@MBuhari should please just sign this Electoral Bill so we can give him the credit for having done something tangible in the field of electoral reform. Under his supervision, there has been almost seven years of no development in this area,” Atedo Peterside tweeted.
As for Bukola Saraki, the former senate president, the bill is good enough to be signed as it is.
“In my opinion, this bill is good, it has to be signed, and I think that will be the greatest legacy that will create the framework for good governance,” Saraki said during an interview after the PDP Women’s Leaders Meeting. “So I’m hoping that in the next few days, the president will do the right thing for the country and future generations.”
For Samson Itodo, the executive director of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth, and Advancement (YIAGA), the bill offers a path to a viable electoral framework that will bring long-term improvement to Nigerian electoral practice.
Read also: Why Buhari must sign 2021 Electoral Bill – CSOs
Shehu Sani, the senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th assembly, also expressed his views on Twitter.
“The ongoing civil society rally in Abuja asking that the President sign the modified electoral Bill is a step in the right way,” he stated.
“It has my support. Without popular protest, the anti-democratic forces will continue to pressurise him against it.”
However, Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, revealed during an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday that “it (the electoral bill) may be signed today; it might be signed tomorrow.” It just took a few hours, not days. Hours could be 24, 48, or even 72 hours; days and weeks are not possible.”
Adesina acknowledged that it would only be legitimate to declare that the president broke the law if he went over the law’s 30-day limit.
“You know, before the President puts pen to paper on any legislation, particularly this one that has to do with our electoral fortunes, it has to be looked at and he has to buy opinions from different stakeholders, and then he will sign it after he is satisfied that the necessary due diligence has been done and he will not make any errors,” the special adviser said.
