Nigeria’s upper legislature chamber succumbed to pressure to remove the ‘ mandatory clause’ from the electoral bill in other receive presidential assent.
ABUJA, Nigeria (TVAFRINET) – The Nigerian Senate has expunged the direct primary clause from the Electoral Act Amendment bill – which made it mandatory for all candidates to go through direct primaries as a basic requirement for all political parties before election.
The Electoral Act Amendment bill was passed late last year by both houses and was refused assent by the president because of the ‘mandatory clause’.
The upper house, on Wednesday, decided to take the action of expunging the controversial clause after the Presidency refused to assent the version of the bill that mandated the use of direct primaries in electing candidates by the parties.
The Presidency has insisted that the mandating of direct primaries on the political parties will prove too expensive and will put unnecessary burden on the country’s limited resources, thus making it an unviable option for the country at this point in time.
The delay in the passage of the bill has however been preventing the country’s electoral body, INEC from releasing election timetables according to its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.
“On the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly, the commission is encouraged by the Senate President’s assurance to give priority attention to the Bill when the National Assembly reconvenes from its recess today, and the commitment by the President to assent to the Bill as soon as the issue of mode of primaries by political parties is resolved,” explained Yakubu.
