This post has already been read 2064 times!
All have not been well in the polity since President Muhmmadu Buhari declined assent to the 2018 Electoral Amendment Bill passed by the National Assembly which, among other things; was supposed to ensure a smooth and itch-free electioneering process in the forth coming general elections scheduled to hold from February next year. In a letter transmitted to the leadership of the National Assembly, President Buhari stated that signing the Bill now at a time when the nation is close to the general elections may give way for confusion and disruption of the polls.
However, many have said that Muhammdu Buhari declined assent to the bill in order to enjoy the lacuna in the current Electoral Act of 2015 that favoured him in the 2015 elections. According to a recent report by DeepDive Intelligence, 42% of 31.7m citizens accredited to vote in the 2015 elections (i.e. 13.4m) used incidence forms because the Independence National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) smart card readers could read their PVCs BUT could not verify their fingerprints as the authentic owners of the PVCs they presented; and this problem was prevalent in the North.
In a region where incidences of under-aged voting, cloning of PVCs and all manners of vices have been widely reported in the past, could this have been the reason why the president has declined assent to the 2018 Electoral Bill so that the All Progressive Congress (APC) can have a smooth ride in the 2019 elections?
When there are lacuna in the laws, it is the responsibility of those charged with making such laws better to do so. The truth is that the NASS may also have ulterior motives as regarding the said Bill, but it sure have the interests of most Nigerians at heart.