ELECTION SEQUENCE: Senate moves to veto Buhari, reintroduces Bill (Updated)

The Senate in what is apparently a move to veto President Muhammadu Buhari has reintroduced the Bill seeking to amend the Electoral Act 2010.

According to the order paper for today’s plenary, the Bill is to be presented for first reading and passed on the floor today (Monday).

The Bill had generated controversy as it seeks to reorder the sequence of polls during the general elections in the country.

There have been claims that the Bill is specifically targeted at President Buhari, and this has polarized the federal legislature as those in support of Buhari have vowed to resist any move to pass it into law.

The president on his part had refused to give his assent to the first version of the bill, a move which infuriated the National Assembly, and it’s leadership that vowed to over-ride the president’s veto.

The House of Representatives where the Bill originated had re-introduced it last week, after Buhari refused to sign it into law.

The bill tagged SB 645, is being sponsored by Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North) who is the chairman of the Senate committee on Electoral Matters. The bill was reintroduced on the floor of the Senate last week.

Read also: Court sets date to rule on re-ordering of election sequence

Buhari rejected the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2018, on the excuse that his assent would infringe on the constitutional powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He had also claimed in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara that giving assent to the bill will make the National Assembly appear as if it is legislating for the states on local government-related issues.

However, in a memo sent to the Senate president by the legal department of the National Assembly a week after it was vetoed by Buhari, it faulted all the three points raised by the president for rejecting the bill.

The legal department, in the memo, gave the National Assembly a clear go ahead if it wishes to override the veto of the president.

In a move to thwart the move by the National Assembly, the John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC met with the APC caucuses in the National Assembly last week in a bid to halt the planned override of the Presidential veto of the Electoral Act Amendment bill, 2018.

Already, senators in the camp of Saraki, confirmed that 67 lawmakers had already endorsed what is called a Pro-Senate register seeking the override of the veto.

The register, which is kept by the same senator from the North East, was said to have swelled to 67 from the initial 63 as at last week. The senators also claimed that the number of lawmakers might rise beyond 80 if the more than 20 others said to be sitting on the fence sign up this week.

It was learnt that the Senate is now divided into two camps, with the Pro Buhari senators also said to be unrelenting in their push. The strategy is working well for the pro-Saraki group, which is said to have sent some members to infiltrate the ranks of the pro-Buhari camp to give them a false sense of hope.

By Ehisuan Odia…

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now