Today, Friday February 25th, President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the amended electoral bill into law. The President and other dignitaries held the signing ceremony at the Presidential villa in Abuja.
Why it matters?
The electoral bill has been a bone of contention in recent weeks between President Buhari and the lawmakers. The reason being, the lawmakers made direct primaries as the means for conducting primary elections within political parties. This means that all party members will choose party leaders, amongst which a running candidate would arise.
This electoral method didn’t sit well with the president. In fact, President Buhari said direct primaries “violates the spirit of democracy”. He then sent back the electoral bill to the lawmakers for further deliberation. The senate adjusted the electoral bill by including direct, indirect and consensus electoral methods amongst other provisions and forwarded the amended electoral bill back to the President on the 31st of January, 2022.
Despite the delay, President Buhari has today signed the bill into law and with the new provisions made by the lawmakers. Present at the signing ceremony were Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, and Kayode Fayemi, chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).