Fred Itua, Abuja
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, offered the possibility of the Ninth National Assembly passing an acceptable new electoral amendment bill into law.
He also assured Nigerians that the Ninth National Assembly will prioritise credible and acceptable electoral processes that would meet best practices for the citizenry.
The senate president said this when he hosted the European Union Elections Observers Mission in Nigeria, led by Ambassador Keitec Karlsen in his office.
Lawan also noted that the Federal Government considered electioneering process of great importance.
He applauded the European Union Mission for its recommendations on how to improve on conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“Your visit today (yesterday) is historic, as the number one visit to my office, after elections of presiding officers of the Ninth Assembly.
“What can be more important than meeting with elections observers from the European Union? We consider our elections of great importance, we have lessons to learn and we want our elections to be credible and meet with best practices.
“The National Assembly has always worked hard on the Electoral Act, to ensure that we improve on standards. Your recommendations will fire us to a more better electoral processes.”
He pointed out that wrong timing affected the earlier amendment that was rejected by the Executive.
“This time, we will be quick to address all the grey areas and come out with better inputs,” Lawan told his visitors, of plans to reconsider the Electoral Act amendment.
He seized the visit to request for more collaboration with the European Union Mission, and urged the body to help in building capacity of members of the Nigerian parliament.
“We need to see improvement in our electoral system. We solicit your support to further boost the knowledge of our members and committees relevant to this course. We, in the Ninth Assembly, will continue to work in a committed and united manner to offer the best to the electorate. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one institution that has always been supported by the National Assembly.
“They also require more support and resources. The resources available are not enough for the enormous tasks. Our desire is that our electoral empire continue to be independent and improve; to perform the statutory functions creditably well.”
Earlier, leader of the delegation, Karleen assured that the European Union would continue to strengthen its collaboration with Nigeria.
Karlsen said Nigeria is an important partner of the European Union, and added that, as an old friend and close ally, in terms of economy, job creation, migration and other key areas, it will continue to work shoulder by shoulder with Nigeria.
The leader said the elections afforded the observers opportunity to see events for themselves.
The Mission leader added that “the reports were to correct anomalies in elections so that such inadequacies would not be repeated in the future.”