FREEPRESS – The National Assembly has for now dumped its planned override of President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto of the amended Electoral Act, which reordered the sequence of the general elections.
The Senate and the House of Representatives failed to advance the planned override when the bill came up for hearing on Wednesday. Many senators including those from the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, opposed the amendment of the vetoed bill when it was tabled.
Attempts to pull through the new bill sponsored by Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Suleiman Nazif, was futile.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the session sensing that the bill would be defeated hurriedly asked that it should be reverted to the Senate committee on INEC for more work.
Some of the senators that opposed the bill are Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North), Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central),
Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olushola Adeyeye (Osun Central) amongst several others.
In the House of Representatives, the lead sponsor, Dukku was not on the floor and the Chairman Rules and Business, Emmanuel Orker-Jev (APC, Benue) requested the leave of the House to step down the bill.
The next bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act, No. 6, 2010 to make provision for sequence of elections in Nigeria; and for related matters sponsored by Edward Pwajok (APC, Plateau) and seven others also suffered the same fate.
According to the rules of the National Assembly, the bill may be represented at a future date since it was not defeated.
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