The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday, said the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 will be re-introduced into the House, reworked and passed on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
Gbajabiamila, while delivering a speech to welcome back Members of the House from the yuletide holiday, restated the advantages of restricting political parties to direct primary while castigating the parties for “lacking comprehensive membership registers”.
The Speaker noted that the general election in 2023 was fast approaching, hence the need for the lawmakers to fast-track work on a new legal framework for credible polls.
He noted that the parliament has the option of either overriding the veto of President Muhammadu Buhari, or amending the Bill based on the President’s observations.
“Now, we have to choose between sticking to our guns regarding the provision to mandate direct primary for political parties or reworking that provision to save the rest of the Bill.
“I remain convinced that the proposal for direct primary is valuable for building accountability in our political system but we must not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Therefore, the House will reintroduce the amendment tomorrow (Wednesday) and we will work quickly to address the mitigating concerns, pass the Bill and send it back to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, for assent,” Gbajabiamila said.
