Politics

Electoral Bill: Governors plot against Buhari, back lawmakers

Published

6 years ago

March 27, 2018

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There are indications that some governors from both the opposition party, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) may have quietly thrown their weight behind the move by the National Assembly to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill.

National Daily gathered from a highly placed source in the National Assembly that many of the governors, especially those seeking a second term in office, have given their tactical support surreptitiously to the amendment of the Electoral Act.

However, it is still not certain if the amendment will scale through in both chambers of the federal legislature, as a senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he was confident that the amendment would pass easily at the Senate, but may hit a brick wall in the House of Representatives.

The senator claimed that at least 67 of his colleagues had already signed the register to override the veto, saying at least 15 are from the South-south geopolitical zone, 13 from the South-east, 10 from the South-west, 10 from the North-east, and seven from the North-west.

The register is believed to be in the custody of a senator from the North-east.

Another senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, further revealed that about 20 senators were still undecided on whether to override the veto or support pro-Buhari senators who are said to be just 15 in number.

He also claimed that some PDP senators who have “deceptively” committed not to override the veto were only playing along in order to partake in the “largesse” being promised by the executive not to upturn the president’s veto.

The source, who spoke in confidence on the backing of several state governors, said many of them are concerned that the president might work against them once his election has been held first, hence their preference for the amendment to the Electoral Act.

He said many governors have been quietly urging their lawmakers in the National Assembly to accelerate the process of overriding the president’s veto.

Buhari recently vetoed the Electoral Amendment Bill on the grounds that the section that is proposing to alter the election sequence for the presidential elections to hold last would infringe on the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise and supervise elections in the country.

However, the National Assembly has vowed to override the president’s veto, with lobby intensifying by the day among pro- and anti-Buhari legislators to vote for or against the bill, amid allegations of offers of inducements by the executive arm of government to kill the bill.

The National Assembly can override a presidential veto if two-thirds of its members in both chambers vote for the bill to become law.