Majority Leader and Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC in the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on has insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari has the right to with hold his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which has been forwarded to him.
Ahmad who made this declaration Friday in Abuja said that President Buhari would not be stampeded in signing the bill in to law as he has to take his time to scrutinize what was passed and sent to him.
He stated that Senate has corrected all the observations raised by the President when he returned the bill to the National Assembly and even without the assent of the President, the 2006 Electoral Act was in perfect order to guide the nation have a more transparent election in 2019.
The Senate Leader however said the Electoral Act Amendment Bill could still be used for the next year’s election if assented to by the President.
Ahmad said that the call by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman Uche Secondus that President Buhari should sign the bill was suspicious, stressing that the bill is not a PDP bill, but a National Assembly bill.
On why the President has not signed into law the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that was passed and sent to him the Senate Leader said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has signed more bills than previous presidents in this country.
“Secondly, he has read and objected to certain provisions in many bills that were eventually sent back to the National Assembly to look at and then return for further legislative actions for him to look at it again.
“Previous government of President Goodluck Jonathan didn’t sign much; they kept most of the bills sent by the National Assembly. So I want to give kudos to the President for ensuring that he looks in to the bills before signing. Some he said he won’t sign because of this or that provisions which are either contradictory constitutionally or maybe it will cause more harm than good, so therefore the National Assembly should look into it again.
“The electoral bill you are talking about has been sent back twice or thrice, that is to tell you that the President is willing to sign the bill provided it meets certain conditions that will make our electoral
processes better and more sane.
“So, the President is studying this bill, it is not like you will send it to him and he will immediately sign. This is a sign that he is really interested in what we sent back to him. It is for him and his advisers to read through line by line and see how best the electoral process can be enhanced.
“So, I don’t think we have run out of time, in fact I think we should encourage the president and those helping him to complete going through the bill before he signs. What is the problem? We still have the 2006 Electoral Act as amended that we used in 2015 for an election that was adjudged to be free, fair and an improved process. We don’t put so much pressure and unneeded criticism of the president when he is yet to complete his analysis of what has been sent to him. He needs to take his time.”
Ahmad said that though he is not one of the advisers of the President, he would advise that he goes through what has been sent to him line by line, understand whatever his advisers would tell him and of what the senate has sent that will make the elections in 2019 better,then he should go ahead to sign it.
He further stated that if however the President discovers some provisions that will bring contradictions and controversies, he can withhold assent, though he said that “I am not advocating that he withholds assent but if he does, that is his right. I want to tell you that the APC caucus in the National Assembly stands with Mr.
President on this.”
On whether the bill will it be used for 2019 elections if signed into law, he said, “Yes. The 2006 electoral act as amended was used in the 2015 general elections. Who amongst us will tell me that the 2015 general elections were not free and fair?
“The processes were free and fair. So if we are not able to get this bill signed, we can still use the 2006electoral act as amended and in fact we can even achieve better than we did in2015. We can observe our deficiencies in 2015 elections using the same act and we can improve in the administrative approach to the elections.
“So, I personally believe the President is doing what is right, nobody should pushed, pressurized him into signing the bill, he needs to thoroughly read and then take a decision.”
Also asked whether the senate really effected all the needed corrections as observed by the President before it was sent to him, he said that the nation’s upper legislative chamber considered all the observations and comments of the President.
“I think we have taken into consideration the observations made by Mr. President and the comment. A society that is human is so dynamic, and an environment that is so politically charged,you cannot be sure of what you will say or judge to be okay, in minute it could change.
“So, for me I believe the National Assembly, we have done what we could to ensure that we work in a way that it will look better. But the President reserves the right to study it and not to be pressurized.
“I noticed that the PDP in their meeting of yesterday was saying the Presidency must sign the bill, was the bill passed by the PDP or the National Assembly. This kind of thing tells you a lot. I expect for members of the National Assembly to be the ones talking and not PDP National chairman or other presidential candidates.” he said.
