Electoral Act: We’ll take appropriate steps next year

The House of Representatives has disclosed that it will revisit the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was declined assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In his remarks after reading the President’s letter, the Speaker said, despite the differences of opinions on the Bill, the House of Representatives and the entire National Assembly, worked to pass the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.

He said: “As it is now, that bill has not received presidential assent, and it falls to parliament to decide the best way forward. When we return in the New Year, we will resume our efforts to reform the electoral system in our country. And we will do it together.

“That is what the Nigerian people expect of us, and we will do our duty for God and country. Whichever way it pans out, we must not throw out the baby with the bath water and must deliver a credible and enduring electoral system to Nigerians. Every law is a living document and as long as it has breath, it must survive,” he said.

The President had in a letter sent to the House dated December 13, 2021 read by the Speaker informed the House about the reasons he declined asset to the bill.

The President stated: “Rt Honourable Speaker may wish to note that, the conduct of elections for the nomination of party candidates solely via direct primaries as envisaged by the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 has serious adverse, legal, financial, economic and security consequences which cannot be accommodated at the moment considering our nation’s peculiarities”.

Similarly, the president wrote a separate letter to the House seeking for virement dated December 16, 2021.

It reads “The House may wish to recall that I signed the 2021 Appropriation on December 31st 2020, for a total expenditure of N13.588 trillion and a Supplementary Appropriation to cater for critical needs for the Security and Health Sector in the sum of N983 billion on July 26th, 2021.

“You may also recall that, during the signing of the 2021 Appropriation Act, I mentioned that, where necessary, I will revert to the National Assembly with a request for amendment, virement or other appropriate adjustments to ensure that the core objectives of the budget are accomplished. Accordingly, the 2021 Budget implementation is faced with challenges that will require additional funding for some critical and urgent line items in the budget.

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to forward the comprehensive Virement Proposal for the consideration and approval of the National Assembly,” the letter said.

(Daily Trust)