Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa-West), has said he is happy that President Muhammadu Buhari withheld assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Adamu said this in Keffi, Nasarawa State, on Tuesday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The President’s decision to withhold assent from the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 has come under scrutiny in different quarters.
Adamu said the National Assembly had no business passing a Bill to determine how parties nominate their candidates.
“It is strange and unfair to come up with a law regulating how parties conduct their elections.
“I support the President for not signing the Bill and I minced no words on the floor of the Senate.
“We should appreciate that Buhari’s refusal to assent to the bill means so much. He is a very articulate person; a very deep person in thought and planning,’’ he said.
The presidency had on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari withheld assent to the electoral act amendment bill because it did not seek to enhance the country’s democratic process.
Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu said this in a statement: ” Nigeria’s strength as a nation and its status as one of the wealthiest economies in Africa with one of its highest standards of living owes above all to its proud democratic processes, which are enshrined in the Electoral Act of 2010.
“It is this act which the new bill seeks to amend. These amendments have been presented as a means to enhance and build upon our democratic processes. After careful review, the President’s Office has found that the opposite is true.
“Rather, the proposed amendments entail significant legal, financial, economic and security consequences for all Nigerians, principal among which would be a severe spike in the cost of holding primary elections by parties – integral to democracies the world over.”
