The Delta State Government has urged Nigerians to prevail on the National Assembly to either remove the contentious direct primaries clause in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill or override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto.
It accused Federal lawmakers of failure to override President Buhari’s veto because they could not summon the courage to do so.
Information Commissioner Charles Aniagwu said this when he appeared on Wednesday on a monited African Independent Television (AIT) programme.
The commissioner urged Nigerians to prevail on the National Assembly to re-examine the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and do a thorough surgery on before returning it to the President for his assent.
He said Nigerians should not bother debating the propriety or otherwise of the President’s refusal to assent to the Bill but call the National Assembly to either override the President’s veto or amend the Bill quickly and send it back to him for his signature.
According to him, beyond the issue of funds alluded to by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami, Nigeria also has the challenge of data.
Aniagwu said: “From the way we operate at the moment, it is possible for somebody to vote in Ekiti State and move to Osun State to vote in the direct primaries because the data is not there as it should.
“So, if indeed we need to have direct primaries, which I am not against, we need to first of all clean up the system. We need to enact the law to ensure that it addresses the issues of manipulations.”
