Electoral Bill: CUPP charges NASS to expunge direct primaries, return bill to Buhari

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has charged the National Assembly to expunge direct primaries from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and return same to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.

The CUPP spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, gave the charge on Tuesday while reacting to the decision of President Buhari to decline assent to the proposed electoral law.

Ugochinyere appealed to members of the National Assembly to cancel their Christmas break, so as to enable them to rework the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, immediately, in the interest of the country.

‘If the issue of direct and indirect primary is why the president failed to sign the electoral law, let parliament expunge that area and retransmit the remaining one to him. Let us see the reason he would use in not signing it again,’ he said.

‘If the parliament was responsive, there is no need of going on recess at a time like this. All that is required to do is just one or two sittings and the amendment would be made and transmitted back to the president for assent.

‘I can tell you that what the president is running away from is not the argument of direct or indirect primary but the president is scared that if he conducts an election with the electronic voting system, his party would lose an election,’ he stated.

The CUPP spokesman expressed disappointment that President Buhari refused to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment, especially as he had repeatedly declined assent to similar bills by the 8th assembly.

‘He was campaigning and saying the first thing he would do if voted in as president was to amend the Electoral Act and make our electoral process more transparent. And now that the man has been elected as the President and Commander-In-Chief with an overwhelming majority in the parliament by his party, he is frustrating the efforts at making the electoral system more transparent,’ Ugochinyere stated.