Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, on Monday, met President Muhammadu Buhari, saying afterward that All Progressive Congress (APC) governors who are not happy with the direct primary provision in the Electoral Amendment Act should engage with the lawmakers and other political stakeholders.
Speaking to correspondents after the meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja, he said it is normal to have disagreements but engaging with others will minimize them.
While noting that it is not all governors that are against the use of direct primary to select political party candidates for elections, he said putting the provision in the amendment bill was a decision of the majority of members of the National Assembly.
He said: “Well, you see, sometimes this kind of disagreements happen. And when they do, I think the best way forward is for people to engage.
“I always believe, and I’ve canvassed for this, that National Assembly members are major stakeholders, governors of APC, major stakeholders, and in fact, the presidency is a major stakeholder. In fact, as the biggest stakeholder because it runs the administration, and our party must always try to bring everybody together.
“I don’t think there will be any day that you will have a political issue that everybody will say the same thing about it that agrees with you without any amendment.
“So, when we have any section of a party disagreeing with something, we should be engaging, That’s why we are politicians. We must have that kind of a platform where we discuss the issues, let’s understand each other, and then we make whatever it is that will make this disagreement minimized. Or maybe where possible, eliminated completely.
“So, I don’t think it is right to say that governors have disagreed. Maybe some governors might have said they don’t like it this way. But that’s normal. So, it’s for us to engage and engage and engage. And I believe that.”
Ahmed maintained that the issue of the direct primary option has left the purview of the National Assembly since the bill has been transmitted to the president.
He argued when asked if the lawmakers could still yield grounds:
“This is not something that we should be talking now because it has passed the legislature and it’s no more with the legislature. So, this is something that is now with Mr. President.
“If we are talking about the electoral amendment bill, the National Assembly has finished its work. And the bill has been transmitted to Mr. President. And I think at this moment, all eyes will be on what happens to the bill from the executive side rather than the legislature.
“Yes, of course, when we send a bill to Mr. President, we expect the bill to be signed. But there are two things that can happen. Mr. President could decide to of course, after consultation with his advisers, sign, or if he doesn’t want to sign, he may have his reasons.
“But I believe that whatever we do in the National Assembly, especially this ninth National Assembly, we think deep, we think wide, we will consult very broadly before we take any position.
“So, I believe that whatever we send to the executive arm of government, Mr. President, for his assent, these are things that are well thought out. And I believe that the expectation of members of the National Assembly will be that this bill is signed. But this is again, not my own calling, is for Mr. President to make his decision.”
The Senate President expressed the hope that President Buhari will assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, saying: “What I can tell you is, amongst other things, because that’s not the only thing, amongst other things we have discussed this.
“And my opinion is National Assembly has done its work. And members of the National Assembly have expressed themselves. This is the majority view and is for Mr. President to look at it and of course, the expectation of National Assembly is to get the Presidential assent.”
On when he expects the president to act on the bill, Ahmad stated: “I don’t know why this appears to be the only issue. You see, there is no need for you to lobby for any bill to be signed if you are the chairman of the National Assembly, because you are simply a presiding officer, and you coordinate the views of your colleagues.
“The majority of my colleagues in the Senate and in the House of Representatives say this is where they want the bill to go. This is the provision they want in Section 52, 3 rather. So, I don’t have to come and say Mr. President sign this. Mr. President has his own processes when a bill is sent to him from the National Assembly. I’m sure he has the Attorney General and others to advise him. So, why should I stress myself to say, just sign?
“We expect that he will sign, but how he does that is his calling. And I think we should allow him to just follow the processes he is used to, but the expectation of members of National Assembly is that the bill is signed.”
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