Why Senators Dropped Plot to Override Buhari's Veto on Electoral Bill
- The plan by the Senate to override President Buhari's veto on the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021 may have crashed
- There had been reports of some senators collecting signatures to overturn the refusal of the president to give assent to the bill
- However, some state governors have reportedly lobbied the senators to drop their bid to override the president
The Senate has reportedly dropped the plan to override President Muhammadu Buhari following his decision not to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021.
The Nation reported that the senators abandoned the plan following overnight lobbying by six governors.
Source: Facebook
It was gathered that the six governors, led by the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Mai Mala Buni, lobbied senators overnight to stay action on their plan.
The lobbying which started at about 9pm on Tuesday, December 22, ended at 5am on Wednesday, December 23.
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The newspaper cited anonymous sources as saying that the ability of Senate President Ahmad Lawan to manage the situation maturely made senators ‘defer’ issues on the presidential veto till January 2022.
Senators collecting signatures
Legit.ng earlier reported that Senator George Sekibo who represents River East senatorial district declared that 73 senators had indicated interest to override President Buhari’s veto of the electoral bill.
Sekibo who is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said signatures have been collected from the senators ready to override the president.
However, Daily Trust also reported that some senators have had a rethink over the issue following the lobbying by the governors.
The newspaper said credible sources stated that many APC governors and some from the opposition PDP called the senators and asked them to back out from any move to override President Buhari.
It added that some sources said the governors deployed “carrot and stick” to douse tension on the grounds that any move to override Buhari would amount to embarrassing him.
Other sources were cited as saying that the position taken by the president tallied with the governors’ wish because allowing many options for primary elections would help them consolidate their firm grip of party structures.
How Kwankwaso predicted that Buhari won't sign Electoral Act amendment bill
Earlier, former Kano state governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, predicted that President Buhari won't sign the Electoral Act amendment bill.
Kwankwaso alleged that some state governors pressured the president not to sign the bill because of the provision for direct primary.
He said though the direct primary option is better, governors do not want it because it makes them less powerful in the scheme of things.
Source: Legit.ng
