Ahmed Lawan, senate majority leader
The Senate Leader, Alhaji Ahmed Lawan, has advised the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to stop putting pressure on President
Muhammadu Buhari to sign the 2018 Electoral Act Amendment bill into
law.
Lawan gave the advice when he fielded questions from State House
correspondents in Abuja on Friday.
He warned that the president would not be stampeded into signing
the bill without studying the document to avoid errors.
He said: “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 he bill provided it meets certain conditions that
will make our electoral processes better and more sane.
“So, the President is studying this bill. It’s 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 think we should encourage the president and those helping
him to complete going through the bill before he signs.’’
According to him, the 2006 Electoral Act as amended which was
used to conduct the 2015 general elections is still valid and can
be used for the conduct of 2019 general elections.
He said the 2006 Electoral Act if properly implemented could
even deliver a more transparent, free and fair elections in 2019
than what was experienced in 2015.
“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 necessarily 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,” he
said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before the latest
version of the Electoral Act was submitted to the Presidency, the
President had withheld his assent to the document about three
times.
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