The Presidency has disclosed why President Muhammadu Buhari did not consult 91 political parties before refusing to sign the Electoral Act amendment bill.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) Ita Enang, speaking on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, said the political parties were not consulted because Buhari needed to act in the best interest of the nation.
Buhari had for the third time withheld his assent to the bill.
Buhari in a letter transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, explained that passing the bill could cause “some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process.”
When asked if the political parties were consulted directly as recommended by the ECOWAS Protocol, Enang said, “I think that what the President is to do is to take the best of discretion and from his vantage point as President of the country, to look at international best practices.”
Enang added that the National Assembly could not be said to be an aggregate of all political parties since not all political parties were represented in the legislature.
Enang reiterated that one of the reasons the President did not sign the bill was because doing so would have been in contravention of Economic Community of West Africa States Protocol.
The ECOWAS Protocol prohibits the amendment of electoral laws less than six months to elections except a majority of political parties or players agree to it.
Recall that Buhari has been heavily criticised by over 40 political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, as well as notable senior advocates for refusing to sign the bill which he had rejected four times.
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