2023: Four Probable Reasons Why Buhari Is Yet to Sign Electoral Amendment Bill
- President Muhammadu Buhari is yet again a subject of criticism following his failure to sign the amended electoral bill
- Allegations from several quarters have accused the president of delaying the signing of the amended electoral bill on purpose
- The opposition party, PDP, alleged that President Buhari is masterminding plans to gather justifiable excuses to elongate his tenure
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President Muhammadu Buhari's delay to pen the Electoral Act Amendment Bill has yet again begun to raise eyebrows amongst political stakeholders.
It is without a doubt that the amendment bill plays a pivotal part in the forthcoming primaries between two political party heavyweights, the APC and the PDP.
Source: Facebook
The amendment is said to give room for the inclusion of statutory delegates at the forthcoming political parties’ primaries and national conventions respectively.
Failure to sign the bill is tantamount to the automatic exclusion of these statutory delegates from the exercise.
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Meanwhile, many factors have been speculated as to why the President is unwilling to sign the amendment bill.
1. Tenure extension
Most recently, the opposition party, PDP, accused the president of masterminding plans to elongate his stay in office.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, the PDP alleged that some forces in the APC are responsible for influencing the president's decisions stating that President Buhari is being pressured to delay the accent of the bill.
As gathered by Legit.ng, the PDP issued a statement via its publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, who stated that the APC is plotting to mastermind insecurity and political uncertainty to frustrate the electoral proceedings and in turn use it as a justifiable excuse to elongate President Buhari's tenure.
He said:
“It is not surprising to the PDP that Mr. President was again “absent” having traveled to the United Arab Emirate and abandoned his constitutional duty of signing the crucial amendment to the Electoral Act.
“This attitude of Mr. President to an issue that is critical to our electoral system is consistent with APC’s plot to cause confusion in the polity, orchestrate an unconducive environment for elections, stall the 2023 general elections and achieve a rumoured third term agenda.
“The regularity of the electoral process as well as the confidence of the people in the certainty of timelines and outcomes of elections are the hallmarks of democracy, which the APC has been dislocating apparently with the view to undermining the electoral process.”
2. Expensive delegates' logistics
In another development, it is also understood that the president is yet to sign the bill because of the cost implication of the new number of delegates it will generate, and catering for their logistics and welfare will be too expensive for aspirants.
President Buhari signing the amendment bill means delegates will increase from about 2, 200 to about 12,000.
A source said:
"It is expensive for aspirants and even in terms of money for logistics and other expenditures to incur on delegates. So, it could worsen corruption.”
3. Some parties had already done their primaries
In the same vein, it is also understood that some political parties have already conducted their primaries and with President Buhari’s signature affixed on the amendment bill, it means their primaries are invalid.
As gathered by Legit.ng, no fewer than 18 registered political parties had commenced the conduct of primaries to pick candidates for the 2023 general election.
4. President Buhari's plan to reduce the influence of aspirants on delegates
Another major reason perceived to have delayed the president from penning the amendment bill is to lessen the undue influence of some presidential aspirants regarded as wielding awesome influence in the political space.
The Nigerian Tribune held that one of the top aspirants from the southern region has succeeded in wooing a considerable amount of governors to his camp ahead of the incoming primaries.
This means if President Buhari signs the amendment bill, it will boost the chance of any of those powerful aspirants emerging as candidates of the political parties, as the amendment provides for a huge number of statutory delegates.
State of the Nation: 8 things Nigerians want from President Buhari's administration
Meanwhile, Nigerians in their numbers have continued to criticise the country under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
To many of these Nigerians, the president is doing nothing to better the lives of the people. Meanwhile, if the president can help the country solve some issues, most of these critics will rally around the president.
As many people continue to complain about the situation of the country the incessant killings, economic down-turn and many more should be addressed by the president.
Source: Legit.ng
