The Nigerian Senate announced that it will rescind its decision on the affected Clause of the Bill as passed and re-commit same to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.
This was announced by the Senate during its plenary session on Wednesday and supported Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.
This comes after the Senate had last year supported the amended Bill which included the adoption of Direct primaries.
What the senate said:
Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi approved the Withholding of Assent of Electoral Act No. 6 20210 (Repeal & Re-enactment) Bill, 2021 and its re-committal to the Committee.
Adding that it has agreed to “rescind its decision on the affected Clause of the Bill( Direct primaries) as passed and re-commit same to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.”
The Senate said its Committee of the Whole and Plenary approves Clause 84 as recommended. “Clause 84 in the Electoral Act N0. 6 is to make it possible for the country to have a new Electoral Law based on the reservations made by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.”
Meanwhile following the adoption of a motion for the re-committal of the bill to the Committee of the Whole by Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi at Wednesday’s plenary, Abdullahi Speaking on the motion for re-committal said “This is to make necessary amendment in accordance with Order 87(c) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2022 (as amended); and relying on order 1(b) and 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2022 ( as amended).”
Recall Nairametrics reported earlier that Professor Attahiru Jega, Ex-Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stated that dropping the issue of the direct primaries is in the best interest of all stakeholders for 2020, urging that over-riding the President’s decision may not be a good idea.
Nairametric