Uduegbunam ChukwujamaPresident Muhammadu Buhari has reconfirmed Prime Business Africa’s December 1 exclusive report on his rejection of the 2021 Electoral Act Amendment Bill as he writes National Assembly to adduce the same reasons presented by the multimedia platform on why he declined assent.
Electoral Act: Buhari Declines Assent Over ‘N500B’ Direct Primary Costs
Prime Business Africa exclusive report of the early morning of December 1 had explained that the President rejected the Bill based on high cost of conducting direct primaries as provided in the amendment Bill.
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The report revealed that, following pressure from the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors who met him in a close-door session to express concerns about Direct Primaries, its costs and the potentially divisive impact on the ruling party, President Buhari had sought advice from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami both of which advised him to hold off.
INEC, according to the Prime Business Africa exclusive, had advised that conducting direct primaries for the ruling APC and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) alone would amount to conducting general election twice, the cost of which could hit some N500 billion.
Sources close to the whole discussion had told Prime Business Africa that the President considered the fact the struggling economy would not be able to shoulder such enormous cost as would be incurred by INEC as a result of conducting direct primaries for all the political parties in the run-up to the main election in February 2023.
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INEC, according to the exclusive report, also expressed concern that it would have to muster all the needed logistics and provide the needed infrastructure to monitor all direct primary elections for all political parties, even in the face or worsening insecurity, leading up to the February 2023 general elections.
The President therefore took the decision that he would not sign the document in the form it was submitted to him on November 19, 2021 by the National Assembly, leading to the Prime Business Africa’s exclusive report announcing that the President would decline assent to the 2021 Electoral Amendment Bill based on the aforementioned reasons.
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Buhari’s December 20, 2021 letter to Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, which was made public more than 24 hours after the expiration of the 30-day statutory window for the president to sign the Bill, outlined the same reasons exclusively revealed by Prime Business Africa on December 1. the President listed high costs to be incurred by INEC and the economy to process Direct Primary elections in all political parties, as well as the security situation in the country.
True to Prime Business Africa’s December 1 exclusive report, President Buhari, in the formal letter to President of the Senate, confirmed that he consulted relevant ”Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Government” and had also perused the Bill in view of the current realities in Nigeria.
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