The House of Representatives has said it will re-gazette the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018 to expunge certain areas of it and re-transmit to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
Spokesman of the House, Abdulrazak Namdas, made this known during a press briefing after plenary on Wednesday, and after Buhari declined to assent to the amendment earlier forwarded to him by the National Assembly (NASS).
Buhari declined to assent to the Electoral Act amendment citing Section 25, Section 138 and Section 152 Subsection 325 of the Principal Act, and referencing Section 15(A) of the Nigerian Constitution.
“The amendment to the sequence of elections in Section 25 of the principal act, may infringe upon the constitutionally guaranteed discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize, undertake and supervise elections provided in Section 15(A) of the third statue to the Constitution.
“The amendment to Section 138 of the principal act to delete two crucial grounds upon which an election may be challenged by candidates, unduly limits the rights of candidates in elections to a free and fair electoral review process.
“The amendment to Section 152 Subsection 325 of the Principal Act may raise Constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate over local government elections,” he stated.
Namdas said the House agreed with the President that Section 138 of the amended electoral act unduly limits the right of the candidate to a free and fair election.
He also said the lawmakers agreed with the President on his position on Section 152 of the act regarding the competence of the national assembly to regulate local government elections.
“We will re-gazette the electoral act and expunge the areas which the President mentioned and which we are in agreement with the President and in line with the constitution. We will then bring it back for debate and re-transmit it to the president for assent,” he said.