Electoral Bill: Buhari Will Inform NASS Of His Decision – Garba Shehu

The presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will inform the National Assembly of his decision on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

The much-anticipated bill which was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on November 6 empowered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically.

Constitutionally, the President is expected to sign or withhold his assent to it within 30 days which elapsed on Sunday; Buhari is yet to indicate his decision on the proposed legislation.

But speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said his principal owes no obligation to make his decision public despite the provision of the constitution.

“The President will be communicating with the National Assembly whenever he decides whether yes or no. I am not in a position to tell you ‘yes or no’. Given the way things are done, the President would have completed his consultation.

“And as I said, it would be disrespectful of the National Assembly, for me at this time, to say this is the content of the president’s communication, assuming that the communication has been sent to them. So as I said, allow them to resume, I believe that the president will not act in breach of the Constitution. No, he will do what is right.

“The constitution says the president must sign within 30 days, the constitution did not say that there should be the disclosure of that decision within 30 days to the public when the disclosure to the National Assembly has been made.”