Electoral Act: How 9th Assembly Made Buhari Sign Bill Into Law, Senate President’s Aide, Ezrel

• The signing of the electoral act amendment bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari was made possible by the 9th assembly
• According to Ezrel Tabiowo, special assistant to the president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, the cordial relationship with executives helped a lot
• Going further, he added that it is imperative for the nation’s arms of government to have a collaborative working relationship

Ezrel Tabiowo, the special assistant (Press) to the president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has advanced reasons President Muhammadu Buhari revisited the electoral act amendment bill and signed it into law.

According to Ezrel, the electoral act amendment bill was a very difficult bill to sign and would have caused serious controversy under an assembly that has no cordial relationship with the executive.

In an exclusive chat with Legit.ng, Ezrel said the Lawan-led 9th assembly has actually broken jinx in terms of passage of critical legislation.

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The media aide said it is imperative for the nation’s arms of government to have a collaborative working relationship. According to him, without that collaborative working relationship, the 9th National Assembly couldn’t have achieved the feat.

Legit.ng recalls that the president, on December 22, 2021, sent back the electoral amendment bill to the National Assembly to make some adjustments and send back to him for his final consideration.

In a letter sent to the lawmakers, the president asked that the National Assembly to remove the clause that has to do with director primaries from the amendment bill.

The National had amended and sent the bill back to the president after much debate.

He said:

“It’s no longer news that the 9th National Assembly has the record for always breaking the jinx when it comes to legislation that were unable to be passed by the previous assemblies. It also stems down to the approach to governance which was devised by the Lawan-led leadership of the national assembly when he came into power in 2019.

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“To a very large extent, I think he has adopted a leadership style that has made things look different and also altered the way things were done, and has brought about a mutual working relationship between the executive and the national assembly.”

Ezrel further explained that in the interest of Nigerians, the nation is beginning to see the passage of critical legislations that are needed to ensure clear-cut changes in the economy, governance, and the electoral processes as well as other critical areas.

He said It’s a very good development because they have many impacts, and that the impacts are even more in the long term.

The media aide said if this kind of development is sustained, Nigeria would be transformed, stating that in years to come, the impacts of these critical legislations will become more visible. Some of them, according to him, don’t have immediate gains, but they have long-term gains.

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According to Ezrel:

“You will see how the economy will flourish in a matter of years. Look at the finance act, look at the deep offshore act. I believe that the 9th assembly has actually achieved greatly."

On the electoral amendment bill which has already been signed into law, the media assistant said the mutual working relationship between the executive and the legislature made it possible, arguing that if it were to be in previous assemblies where there was the absence of a working relationship, the president would have simply rejected the bill with other reasons instead of asking them to do some adjustments.

He said:

“It was a very difficult bill that should have generated a lot of controversies, but as you saw it, everything was resolved peacefully and the bill was passed.”

Responding to whether the new electoral bill make any difference, Izrel assured:

“We are going to have an improved electoral system in 2023 far different from what we used to have. Don’t forget that the National Assembly has already passed the electoral offenses commission bill which seeks the establishment of a commission that will see to the punishment of offenders in electoral malpractices.”

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He, however, said that apart from the electoral act, other legislations that seek to improve on the electoral processes have equally been passed, stating that this has been made easy through the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature. He said that sustaining the cordial relationship was not also an easy task, hence the Lawan-led national assembly must be commended.

He said:

“And even sustaining that relationship has not been easy, and we must give it to the lawmakers for its sustainability,”

Amended Electoral Act: Ortom reacts to passage of bill

Meanwhile, the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, on Saturday, February 26, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.

Ortom said the amendments to the Electoral Act would encourage transparency in the electoral process and lead to the emergence of true representatives of the people.

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A statement released by the chief press secretary to the governor, Nathaniel Ikyur, said Ortom made the commendation while addressing journalists in Mbatiav, Gboko area of Benue state.

Source: Legit.ng