Pressure On Buhari By Governors To Reject Electoral Amendment Bill

By Yusuf Alli, Abuja; Nicholas Kalu, Abuja; Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt, The Nation

Dec. 19 deadline for president to sign

CSOs: assent will aid electoral reforms

President Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure to withhold assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, it was learnt yesterday.

Governors are urging the President to decline assent until the conflict over the direct primary is resolved.

However, leaders of civil society groups, who organised a protest in Abuja, advised the president not to pander to the wishes of governors who opposed the primary mode from the onset.

The National Assembly had transmitted the Bill to the president on November 19, following its passage.

The President has until December 19 to either sign or decline assent.

According to a source, there is suspense as “the president has expanded his scope of consultations with stakeholders” before taking a final decision.

The source said senators and House of Representatives members are under pressure from governors to review the Electoral Act and retain the indirect primary.

It was also learnt that the Presidency may seek a review of the Act, if the pressure persists.

However, the pressure forced senators to split into different caucuses on the demand of governors and some forces in the presidency have created division among senators.

In one of the caucus meeting, some ranking senators said they can back down on direct primary, if a proviso is added or agreed upon to give the Right of First Refusal to serving senators or members of the House of Representatives.

But members of the House of Representatives were adamant yesterday.

They invited the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to explain the likely cost implication of direct primary.

An unconfirmed report said N500 billion additional cost may be incurred by the commission, if direct primary is adopted.

Although, the president had requested for comments from INEC on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the agency has not acted on the president’s request.

Also, it was learnt that some forces in the presidency had been uncomfortable with the cost and security implications of direct primary.

The forces were said to be pushing for a review of the Act by the President.

A principal officer in the Senate, who spoke in confidence, said: “We are under intense pressure from governors and some stakeholders to review the Electoral Act and drop direct primary.

“It has got to a ridiculous extent that each of the 36 governors is now engaging National Assembly Caucus in every state.

“While President Muhammadu Buhari was still consulting, we were surprised that some forces in the Presidency have joined the fray to prevail on National Assembly to retain indirect primary.”

A ranking member of the Red Chamber said the pressure has forced senators to meet at different caucus levels.

The senator said: “On Thursday (yesterday) alone, I attended three different meetings bordering on demand from the National Assembly to jettison direct primary.

“We know the governors are jittery. We also deliberately included direct primary in the Electoral Act to checkmate the excesses of these governors and godfathers imposing candidates on the parties.

“In one of our meetings, some senators tabled another request as a condition for any review. The affected senators said they can back down on direct primary, if a proviso is added or agreed upon to give the right of First Refusal to a serving Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

“We may however, be heading for a stalemate because members of the House of Representatives appeared unwilling on Thursday to review the Act.”