JUSTIN: Buhari to sign electoral act amendment bill on Friday

The electoral act amendment will now be assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, February 25.

A source in the presidency who said the president was going to sign the bill on Wednesday confirmed a new date on Wednesday morning according to Channels TV.

The source disclosed that February 25 will be honoured by the president.

According to the source, the new date will be honoured by the President.

TECHNOCRAT MEDIA had reported that the National Assembly passed the harmonised version of the bill after a re-work over presidential rejection.

Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare confirmed the receipt of the harmonised version by the President.

In November 2021, Mr Buhari withheld assent to the bill, saying 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.

He explained that the idea of direct primaries violates democratic principles.

Amid an outcry from Nigerians and civil society organisations (CSOs) who raised concerns about the delayed signing over fears that the President might reject the bill for the sixth time, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said the president is acting within the provisions of the law.

Mr Adesina stated that it would only be appropriate to say President Buhari has acted against the law if he exceeds the 30-day window provided by the Constitution to take a decision on the bill.

“It could be signed today; it could be signed tomorrow. In a matter of hours, not days. Hours could be 24 hours, it could be 48 hours; not days, not weeks,” He said on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday morning.