Published 22nd Dec, 2021

By Emmanuel Uti

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an African think tank based in Abuja, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021.

In a statement released on Wednesday and signed by Idayat Hassan, the director of the group, CDD said Buhari missed a golden opportunity to write his name in gold as the president who left an improved electoral framework for the country.

CDD called on the national assembly to either veto the president and pass the bill or remove the provision on direct primaries rejected by the president and immediately re-present the bill to him for assent.

“We must not allow a single provision to truncate the goodness in the proposed electoral bill. Nigeria is in dire need of a new and robust framework for the conduct of elections. The reform in the Electoral Bill 2021 will improve the quality of elections, thereby imbuing citizens’ trust in our democracy,” said CDD.

“The national assembly, as the true representative of the people, must not let the enormous human and financial resources invested in the Electoral Bill 2021 – from drafting to floor readings, public hearings, committee work, retreat, conference committee, and so on – go to waste.”

On Tuesday, Buhari sent a letter to the Senate, explaining his rejection of the electoral bill sent to him 30 days earlier. Specifically, Buhari rejected the adoption of direct primaries as prescribed in the bill, saying it would lead to an increase in costs of primary elections across the country.

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