The National Conscience Party (NCP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the reworked Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.
National Chairman, NCP, Dr Yunusa Salisu Tanko, said on Tuesday in Abuja that the nation’s democracy is in danger of Mr. President further delay the signing of the Electoral Bill into law.
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“Mr. President had a golden opportunity to write his name in diamond which he should have done late last year but he didn’t.
“We raised an alarm that reactionary forces were attempting to derail our democratic process. They tried to insert or remove clauses that may make it difficult for the president to sign the amended Electoral act into law.
“Nigerians will hold this government responsible if the signing of electoral bill is further truncated,” Tanko said.
Borrowing the words of Comrade Ariyo Dare-Atoye, he said, “Although the bill has been amended and tailored to the President’s request, feelers have however suggested that the AGF acting to feed President Buhari’s interest, may advise against his assent because the Consensus clause was defined by the National Assembly, thereby barring any loophole for manipulation.
“On the advice of the AGF, the President has declined the signing of the Electoral Bill for a record five times in the last six years, making it difficult for the country to improve on the legal framework of its electoral process.
“This is the sixth time, the bill has been re-transmitted to the President for his assent, yet there are indications that the AGF is about to ask him not to sign it.”
Tanko said that the development is a coup against an improved legal framework for election management will not allow the new electoral bill to become operational.
The NCP Chairman said, “The president should see himself as a statesman that is answerable to the people in general, not an individual or a selected group of people who may want to distract him from his good intentions.
“The President should not be perceived to be insensitive to how Nigerians attitude to democracy under his watch and Nigeria’s leadership absence and failure are aiding undemocratic elements in Africa to threaten civil rule and democracy.”
He therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to find courage and sign the Bill into law to safe the nation’s democracy.
He also back the clamor for the southern region of the country to produce the next president in 2023.
