Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has said the National Assembly will reconvene and decide on the next line in 2022 following the choice of President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his asset to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2021.
Gbajabiamila, who represents Surulere I Federal Consitutency, said this at the house’s last plenary session of the year on Tuesday.
President Buhari had on Monday told the National Assembly via a letter that he declined assent to the bill because of direct primaries, which was made as the mandatory mode of primaries for political parties to adopt.
According to the president, foistering direct primaries would be a violation of the rights of political parties and their members, increase the cost occurred by political parties, lead to security challenges and lead to litigation.
Reacting, Gbajabiamila acknowledged that there had been a divergence of opinion since the bill’s inception at various stages of work at the National Assembly.
The Speaker, however, said the house will work towards reforming the electoral system of the country.
He said: “This year, despite the differences of opinions, all of us in the House of Representatives and indeed, the entire National Assembly, worked to pass the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill. We included in that bill, provisions we hoped will significantly enhance the conduct of our national elections and improve public confidence in our electoral outcomes.
“As it is now, that bill has not received presidential assent, and it falls to parliament to decide the best way forward. When we return in the new year, we will resume our efforts to reform the electoral system in our country. And we will do it together. That is what the Nigerian people expect of us, and we will do our duty for God and our country.
“Whichever way it pans out, we must not throw out the baby with the bathwater and must deliver a credible and enduring electoral system to Nigerians. Every law is a living document and as long as it has breath, it must survive.”
