APC stalwart, Malam Saliu Mustapha has lauded the National Assembly for seeing wisdom in President Muhammadu Buhari’s suggestion on amending the Electoral Act Bill.
President Buhari had suggested that a single mode of primaries should not be forced on political parties in the 2021 Electoral Act amendment bill.
Mustapha, a frontline national chairmanship aspirant of the APC, gave the commendation in a statement by Mr Dapo Okubanjo,his media aide on Thursday in Abuja.
He said although the Senate and the House of Representatives had different views on possible options,it was a thing of joy that the lawmakers expunged the contentious clause rather than attempt to override the President’s veto.
“For several weeks, the main issue in the polity had been President Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill of 2021, on grounds of insecurity and cost of conducting direct primaries with many stakeholders having their say on the matter.
“Only a few days ago, governors elected on the platform of the PDP, urged the national assembly to override the president’s veto.
“But I am glad that the legislators have agreed on the need to expand the options to include indirect primaries and consensus,on the part of the senate,” he said.
Mustapha re- emphasised that political parties should be allowed to determine the mode of primaries that would further their quest to win elections.
This, he said, was exactly what it meant by providing those options rather than foist one on everyone.
He added that though the two chambers were yet to harmonise their positions,it was still a step away from what many thought was going to be a major political row between the executive and the legislature.
“So I have nothing but accolades for the leadership of the two legislative chambers as well as the members,” he said.
Mustapha who is also the Turaki of Ilorin, Kwara, however,urged the national assembly to move fast to harmonise their positions on the contentious clause 84.
“Now that the senate and the house of representatives have completed work on it with divergent bills, the next step is to have a unified one.
“So I’m urging the leadership to expedite action on setting up a conference committee because of time factor, and the need to wrap up the electoral Act Amendment bill as soon as possible,” he said.
Mustapha added that the manner the national assembly acted on the President’s observation showed that the two chambers had individuals who were committed to nation building.(NAN)
