A fresh controversy is looming at the National Assembly as the two chambers of the parliament yesterday approved different versions of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
While the Senate provided the re-amended bill for direct, indirect primaries or consensus as the procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for various elective positions, the House only provided direct and indirect mode.
President Muhammadu Buhari had declined assent to the draft law over the provision of direct primaries as the sole mode of conducting political parties’ primaries.
The bill earlier passed by the National Assembly on November 18, 2021, states that “a political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Commission (INEC).”
The president had said he would assent the electoral bill if the lawmakers provided options for the conduct of political parties’ primaries.
At the Senate, the amendment followed a motion for the re-committal of the bill to the Committee of the Whole by Senate Leader Yahaya Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi) during plenary on Wednesday.
