The Senate has deleted the controversial Clause 84 of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, which only provided for direct primary mode for political parties to produce their candidates.
This followed the re-committal of the Bill by the Senate leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, at plenay on Wednesday.
According to Abdullahi, the concern of the President on the Bill was the provision of only the direct primary for political parties in choosing their candidates.
By deleting clause 84 of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021, political parties now have three options of choosing their candidates for elections.
The new options in the proposed legislation are Direct, Indirect and Concensus means of selecting candidates by political parties.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who clarified the position of the Senate, said the Red Chamber will clean up the Bill to include the new options.
Recall that while Nigerians were expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Bill into law or communicate to the National Assembly before or on November 19, 2021, which was the stipulated time by law for the president to act, there was no communication until December 21, 2021 when the Senate officially received and read the President’s communication rejecting the electoral bill.
Buhari’s letter which was read on the floor of the Senate on 21 December, 2021 was dated December 13, 2021. This had raised questions on the sincerity of both the executive and the legislature on the new electoral legal framework many said will help the country’s electoral process and credibility.
(LEADERSHIP)