By Daniel Kanu
Frontline aspirant for the position of National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Saliu Mustapha, has commended the two chambers of the National Assembly for seeing the wisdom in President Muhammadu Buhari’s suggestion that a single mode of primaries should not be forced on political parties in the 2021 Electoral Act (Amendment Bill).
He said in a statement issued on his behalf by his media aide, Dapo Okubanjo, that although the Senate and the House of Representatives expressed different views on possible options, it was a thing of joy that the federal lawmakers expunged the contentious clause rather than attempt to override the president’s veto.
“For several weeks, the main issue in the polity had been President Buhari’s decision to decline assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment Bill) on the grounds of insecurity and cost of conducting direct primaries with many stakeholders having their say on the matter.
“Only a few days ago, governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) even urged the National Assembly to override the president’s veto but I am glad that the legislators have agreed on the need to expand the options to include indirect primaries and consensus, on the part of the Senate.