BLOGGERS in the country have appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to expedite assent to Electoral Amendment Bill transmitted to him by the National Assembly after passage by the latter.
The bloggers under the aegis of The Bloggers of Nigeria, BON, in a statement, Monday, said having reworked on the Bill by the legislature,” the onus is now on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as urgently as possible, sign the amended electoral bill into law, so that there will be no encumbrance of any sort for INEC to go ahead and conduct transparent, credible and fair elections across the country.”
“We call on President Buhari to quickly assent to the bill, bearing in mind that time is of the essence as the 2023 elections draw closer.
“We are hopeful that the bill will be signed into law when transmitted by the National Assembly to the President for assent,” the group reiterated in the statement signed by its
Presdent, Comrade Ikechukwu Chukwunyere.
It expressed optimism that the bill would be signed into law by the National Assembly to the President for assent.
The statement read:”The media space was recently saturated with the news of the harmonised version of The Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021. This was passed by the lawmakers during Tuesday’s plenary, it was agreed to be the final version between the Senate and House of Representatives on the amendment to Clause 84 of the bill.
“The re-amendment was sequel to a motion on “rescission on clause 84 of the Electoral Act No. 26 2010 (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and Committal to the Committee of the Whole” sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi.
“The BLOGGERS OF NIGERIA, therefore, commend the National Assembly for doing a further job on this well-intended bill particularly as related to section 84 of the Act.
“We welcome the idea of the harmonized version of the electoral bill because It accommodates the direct, indirect, and consensus primary modes of nominating candidates by political parties for elections.
“Irrespective of some imperfections in the bill, We commend the leadership of the Nigeria Senate for the pre-amendment which was done to harmonise the lawmakers’ position with that of the House of Representatives.
“It is commendable because this position is in line with our expectations and that of Nigerians.
“We strongly believe that if the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 is passed by the National Assembly which empowers the INEC to transmit election results electronically, it will greatly eliminate electoral frauds among other irregularities.
“For that reason, we believe that the onus is now on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as urgently as possible, sign the amended electoral bill into law, so that there will be no encumbrance of any sort for INEC to go ahead and conduct transparent, credible and fair elections across the country.
“We call on President Buhari to quickly assent to the bill, bearing in mind that time is of the essence as the 2023 elections draw closer.”
Credit: Vanguard News Nigeria