Buhari’s refusal to sign Electoral Act: What Nigerians think

President Muhammadu Buhari recently refused to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. This decision has received some back lash. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians on the matter. Stanley Sunday Peters, 32, Politician, Akwa Ibom State The rejection of the bill by the president is very proper at this particular time, because in […]

President Muhammadu Buhari recently refused to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. This decision has received some back lash. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians on the matter.

Stanley Sunday Peters, 32, Politician, Akwa Ibom State

The rejection of the bill by the president is very proper at this particular time, because in the electoral law, it is not allowed to sign electoral amendment law when election is by the corner. So, going by that, Buhari is right. That is exactly what will be of benefit to Nigerians if we are all yearning for transparent elections in 2019.

All reasonable Nigerians will know that if the bill is signed now by the president, it may cause chaos in the electioneering processes in 2019, because if you are signing a new law when the election is holding about two months from now, it might hinder INEC from conducting free and fair election. I think the electoral bill should be put on hold till after 2019 election when we will have ample time to amend our electoral laws ahead of 2023.

Aniekan Akpan, 23, Businesswoman, Bayelsa State

Electoral act, a nice bill but hampered by the timing. The bill should have been passed before now. The president’s rejection of the bill is what every responsible leader should do. Why will you sign a bill barely two months to the election? It’s not done anywhere. What stopped the National Assembly from working on it from 2015 when the present National Assembly was inaugurated? The problem with us Nigerians is that we always do good things in a very bad way, that is why we face challenges. President Buhari should stick to his decision not to sign the bill till after the election.

Oriaku Okem Marvin, 29, Entertainer, Abuja

I am not in support of the president’s move. The election action is important and as a president, since he refused to sign it clearly shows how incompetent he is. However, signing the bill shouldn’t be a difficult thing for the president. This is not the first time he has refused to sign the bill due to reasons best known to him.

Chief Nengi James, Chairman, Civil Liberties Organisations, Bayelsa State

It is good to look at new bills that will enhance transparency and good governance, especially to curtail electoral violence and other issues that could undermine our democracy. But Nigerian leaders are playing politics with the citizens. While we need better democracy, most of our leaders and politicians are only after their personal gains. If the bill will not favour them, they will not push for it. But the timing of the bill is actually wrong, because the general election is just few months away. The legislators are looking at the bill now because they have what could be of benefit to them, and the president is also rejecting it on the grounds that it should have come earlier.

Patrick Eyimaga, 27, Applicant, Lokoja, Kogi State

It is at the president’s discretion to sign the bill or not. But our parliamentary institution should do the needful if they feel that it will shape Nigeria’s electoral system. It is constitutionally the President’s right to sign a bill or not.

Wilfred Ogbotobo, Chairman, South-South Legacy Forum, Bayelsa State

I don’t expect responsible and well-meaning Nigerians to blame the President for declining to sign the Electoral Act bill. In the first place, I’m sure the president has given clear reasons for not signing it, and I believe those reasons are cogent enough to warrant the action he has embarked on.

Aside the inherent dangers in the bill itself, which are enough to subject the elections under stress, I’m suspecting that those in the opposition goading the president to assent to the bill have the ultimate ulterior motive of truncating the elections having sensed their imminent defeat, and consequently holding the president and the APC to ransom as failing to organize free, fair and credible elections.

I don’t think the president’s refusal is about fear, rather it’s about strengthening and deepening our democracy. These are laws that will outlive the next dispensation. Hence, we must be careful of our approach to issues like this. The President knows what he is doing, and I don’t think it is right to read different meanings into his expression of responsibility.

Shehu Bilyaminu Jimoh, 28, Teacher, Nasarawa

In order for free and fair election in the country, the president has to sign the bill into law. Refusing is a bad omen. However, since he has always promised a free and fair election, let’s give him time. It’s an amendment, and also a constitutional process. Meanwhile, refusing to sign it now does not mean the election will not be credible as it ought to. Nigeria’s democracy is improving day by day. People are more enlightened. I urge my fellow Nigerians to give him time and he would definitely sign it. Perhaps he is trying to avoid what might put his administration in jeopardy.

Tarfa Maina, Mararaba, 35, Entrepreneur, Abuja

The president claimed that he noticed some abnormalities in the bill that are not good for the country. But from my own end I believe the president refused to sign because of selfish reasons. He believes that it will not favour him at the 2019 poll. He believes that it’s the opposition PDP that sponsored the electoral bill.