Senate President, Ahmed Lawal has said that the National Assembly is eagerly waiting for the Presidency to forward the section of the new Electoral Bill which President Muhammadu Buhari wanted to be amended, when he signed the Bill today, February 25.
Senator Ahmed, who spoke to newsmen today, February 25 shortly after the Presidential assent to the Bill in the Aso Villa, Abuja described the request for amendment to the Bill by the President as “legitimate.”
“And that is why I commend the president. I will commend him for so many things, but let me also qualify it that even though he had a disagreement with the section, especially clause 84(12) that talks about public political office holders, he still went ahead to sign the bill into law. That is to show his commitment and desire to have an electoral law that will ensure that we have better outcomes when we do election.
“So, we will look at what he is asking and I hope that they will send the request for the amendment in good time, because time is of essence. INEC is waiting. We don’t want to spill over some of these dates unnecessarily.
“We will be expecting a communication from Mr. President with respect to this and then the National Assembly in both chambers will look into the request for amendment.
“On the whole, I think this is a wonderful development for this administration, for Nigeria, for the evolution and development and growth of democracy in Nigeria.”
The Senate President said that today marked the most important part of this exercise, adding that for them in the ninth National Assembly, this is a fulfillment of one of their cardinal objectives in the legislative agendas in the two chambers.
“And of course, for the administration, this is one very important piece of legislation that this administration will work with Nigerians, especially when it comes to the electoral environment, where we always feel that we must improve on what we have met.
“And by the time we leave, the electoral climate must be better in terms of integrity, in terms of transparency, and ensuring that every vote counts.”
He said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), now has what it need to produce the best possible electoral exercise, right from the Ekiti and Osun offseason elections up to the 2013 general elections.
The Senate President feared however that law is one thing while respect for the law is another.
He said that no matter how beautiful a law is, if there is no desire, no commitment, and no obligation, to ensure compliance with law, “the law could be less effective and efficient. So I believe that we need to respect the law.
” Now that we have an improvement over what we had in the previous years.”
