Gbajabiamila hints at removal of direct primary clause from Electoral Act Amendment Bill

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has given a hint that the National Assembly would remove the contentious direct primary clause from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill when it resumes from its current recess.

Gbajabiamila, who was interacting with journalists on Thursday while commissioning some projects in his constituency in Surulere, Lagos, also knocked out any possibility of the National Assembly vetoing the bill earlier rejected by the President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the lawmakers were working in tandem with the President for the good of the country and as such, cannot go against the executive.

“If you follow the history of the amendment of the direct and indirect primary bill, I initiated that amendment bill for a good reason and it is for people to participate in elections. These are the people you see around when you campaign every four years.

“For me, it does not make sense that these people do not have a voice in who represents them. It is part of being used and I didn’t like that.

Read also: I’m unaware of move to override Buhari on electoral bill – Gbajabiamila

“Most of us are reformers and one of the ways to reform the system is to make it more accountable and to make the people have a voice in who represents them as opposed to a few people sitting in the four corners of a wall and writing results.

“There is a process; when we come back from recess, as I said, the House will look at those amendments. We will sit as the National Assembly, look at the reasons and at that point, consider removing that clause and pass the bill so that we do not throw away the baby with the bathwater.

“But then, it is not my decision to make. It is the decision of the National Assembly; if they determine that the reasons are not good enough, then, there is a process prescribed by the constitution,” the Speaker opined.

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