Adesina hints Buhari may withhold assent to Electoral Bill

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, hinted on Monday his principal might withhold the assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill currently on his table.

The National Assembly forwarded the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to the President on November 19.

Buhari is expected to sign the bill within 30 days.

However, there are insinuations that he may not sign the bill.

The adoption of direct primaries and other amendment in the bill have not gone down well with some politicians, including the governors who are nursing senatorial ambitions in 2023.

READ ALSO: NASS has betrayed Nigerians on Electoral Bill —Civil Society groups

Adesina, who featured in a programme on Channels Television, insisted that whether Buhari signs the bill into law or not, it does not change his reputation as a true democrat.

He said: “In terms of his image for democratic value, that image is made already. It is almost cast in concrete. You will find that one election after the other has been better under President Buhari.

“Under President Buhari, the governing party has lost — states, legislative seats, and so many elections.

“It didn’t use to be. It used to be that whichever party was in power won all elections before by hook or crook; not under President Buhari.

“So, his reputation as somebody who wants to leave clean elections for Nigeria has already been made whether the electoral act is signed or not. It doesn’t distract from that reputation.”

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