BEVERLY HILLS, August 30, (THEWILL) – As concerns mount over Buhari’s delay in assenting to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2018, the presidency has reiterated that there was no cause for alarm as the president would certainly do the needful before the bill lapses.
There has been fears that the President might withhold assent to the bill, which had been returned to the National Assembly unsigned twice.
THEWILL recalls that the bill was transmitted to the President for his assent on August 2, 2018 after the corrected version was passed by the National Assembly on July 24. It would lapse on Monday, September 3, 2018.
If the president fails to assent the bill or return it to the parliament at the end of 30 days, the National Assembly has the option of override to pass into law.
But the presidency has promised that it won’t get to that level as the president will do the needful before the expiration of the 30 days constitutional provision.
However, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, the President will do the needful before the bill expires.
Enang, who had recently countered the allegation that the president again refused to sign the bill into law, explained that the bill was being studied by the president’s team before he signs it as he debunked the claims that Buhari had vetoed the bill.
“The final clean copy of the bill, which was received by President Buhari on August 2, 2018, is still undergoing thorough scrutiny by the president.
“Mr. President has not vetoed the bill. What some people are not aware of was that when the second copy was received after the initial rejection, it was discovered that there were typography errors, which the National Assembly needed to correct and they did it and sent it back on the 24th of July and this is still being studied before presidential assent.
“It is good for people to cross check their facts first before feeding the public with the wrong information. As you know the president embarked on a 10 day leave soon after we submitted the bill to him, so we should wait,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, has declared that the bill will not be used for the 2019 February general election unless it was signed into law at least six months before the election.
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