The Nigerian Bar Association has expressed its disappointment in the decision of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to withhold his assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
The NBA President, Mr Olumide Akpata, in a statement on Thursday, said given the significance of the bill, Buhari could not be said to have acted in good faith with his decision to withhold assent to the bill.
Akpata said it was disappointing that Buhari waited till the 30 days he had to take on the bill ended before announcing his decision to reject the bill.
He said Buhari’s action flew in the face of his “repeated pledge to strengthen the electoral process.”
The NBA President, therefore, called on the National Assembly to “rise to the occasion, and either take the historic decision to override the President’s veto or immediately take the necessary legislative steps to effect any necessary changes and return the bill to the President for reconsideration.”
He said, “We cannot find any justification for the President to have waited until the final moment before communicating his refusal to assent to the bill.
“We note that the Constitution donates a 30-day period to the President within which to assent or withhold assent to a bill. However, the fact that time is of the essence should have dictated that the President treat the bill with a reasonable measure of urgency, especially in the case where the President ultimately withheld his assent.
“Waiting until after expiration of the 30 days, and even taking advantage of an additional day under the Interpretation Act while the entire nation waited with bated breath, only to communicate a veto, is not consistent with the conduct of a partner in the quest for the needed reform of the country’s electoral process, which should ordinarily be a cardinal point of the President’s agenda, and more fittingly, legacy.
“Further, in view of His Excellency’s personal experiences with the inadequacies of our electoral process, and having repeatedly pledged to strengthen the electoral process, not just in Nigeria, but also across the West African sub-region, the NBA expected more from the President. We fail to see how the above actions contribute to strengthening the electoral process.”
