Why I Withheld Assent To 2018 Electoral Bill — Buhari

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has given some reasons why he withheld assent to the 2018 Electoral Act Amendment Bill forwarded to him on November 8th by the National Assembly.

The bill was deemed to lapse on Friday but the President, according to the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, had returned the bill to the lawmakers.

Sources in the National Assembly, however, confirmed on Friday that the President had indicated that he preferred that the new bill comes into effect after the 2019 election.

A letter dated December 8, 2018, with the title “Presidential decision to decline assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018,” indicated that the bill was passed “far into the electoral process.”

The President in the letter separately addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, asked the lawmakers to forward the bill after the 2019 elections.

 The letter dated December 8, 2018, read in part: “Pursuant to section 58(4) of the 1999  constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( as amended), I hereby convey to the Senate , my decision on 8th December, 2018 to decline Presidential Assent to the fourth version of the Electoral ( Amendment) Bill 2018 forwarded to me by the National Assembly on the 8th of November, 2018.

 “My refusal to assent the bill, for now, is because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create some uncertainties about the applicable legislation to govern the process.

 “Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process.

 “This leads me to believe that it is in the best interest of the country and our democracy for the National Assembly to specifically state in the bill, that the electoral act will come into effect and be applicable to elections commencing after the 2019 general elections.”