SAN FRANCISCO, December 07, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has again declined assent to the amended electoral Bill.
Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate), revealed that the President has communicated his decision to the National Assembly.
Although Enang who avoided making a categorical statement on the bill, however said Buhari assented to the National University Commission Amendment Act.
But in the President’s letter to House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, seen by THEWILL, Buhari said he withdrew his assent “Principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process… ”
THEWILL recalls that in September 2018, the President turned down the bill for the second time, asking the National Assembly to revise some clauses.
The National Assembly had passed the bill on July 24 and transmitted to the president on August 3. This is the fourth rejection of the bill by Buhari, who is seeking re-election in February 2019.
