“Once the Electoral Act is passed, if it is not assented to, I urge you people not to pass the INEC Budget, because [it] is based on the Electoral Act.”
Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has called on the National Assembly to pass the Electoral Act and demand immediate assent from President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Governor Wike said that the Electoral Act should be in place for the processes of the 2019 elections to be legally kick-started.
He spoke at the Government House, Port Harcourt, during a visit by the Saraki Campaign Organisation to the state governor.
“As leader of the National Assembly, do all you can for the Electoral Act to be passed,” Wike appealed to Senate President and PDP presidential aspirant Bukola Saraki.
“Once the Electoral Act is passed, if it is not assented to, I urge you people not to pass the INEC Budget, because INEC budget is based on the Electoral Act. I urge that these things must be taken together”.
The governor, discussing the upcoming PDP primaries, urged party delegates from across Nigeria not to elect a “desperate person” as candidate.
READ ALSO: 2019 presidency: PDP dumps consensus option
“No desperate person, by the Grace of God, will fly the flag of the party. Anybody, who believes that they must be president, you must be afraid of him.
“You don’t know what they want the presidency for. All of us know that Buhari had wanted to be president. Today, we have seen why he wanted to be president,” Wike said.
Earlier, Senate President Bukola Saraki, in a stump speech, stated that he had the capacity to set the country on the path of growth, unity and reconciliation.
“The country is in dire need of a leader that will provide unity. A leader that will represent everybody from whatever part of the country that you come from. I think I am suited to provide that leadership,” the Saraki stated.
“This is a job that requires all of us to be united and focused. Yes, we have individual ambitions, but at any given time, I am ready to sacrifice that ambition for the party.
“I will continue to appeal to the governors that, during this critical time, we must stay united. We must stay strong for the masses who depend on us to rescue this country,” Saraki said, who is touring the country as part of his campaign to secure delegates to win the PDP presidential nomination ahead of next year’s general election.
READ ALSO: I want to unite Nigeria, set it on sustainable economic growth – Saraki
The Senate President commended Governor Wike for his leadership in the PDP at its most critical time.
Meanwhile, State PDP Chairman Felix Obuah applaud Saraki’s bold moves towards his aspiration.
Obuah, receiving the Senate President and his entourage at the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, assured Saraki that no one could stop his presidential aspiration if God wills it to happen.
“If today, God says you will be the President of this country, nobody, I repeat nobody, can stop you. We are praying for you; be rest assured that that desire that is burning in you will come to fulfillment,” party chairman said.
Obuah noted that Saraki was qualified to lead the country in the capacity of President, while stressing that only God had the final say.