TheCable

The national assembly has started working on the electoral act amendment bill recently rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The joint national assembly committee on the bill announced this in Abuja on Monday.

Suleiman Nazif, chairman of the joint committee, said the lawmakers were meeting to consider issues raised by the president regarding the bill.

This is the fourth time the committee would be working on the bill rejected by Buhari on two different occasions.

Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the president on electoral matters (senate), had said the president declined assent to the bill due to some drafting issues that were unaddressed following its prior revisions.

“Mr. President invites the Senate and House of Representatives to address these issues as quickly as possible so that he may grant President Assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill,” he had said in a statement.

The national assembly had passed the bill on July 24, 2018, and transmitted to the president on August 3.

Buhari first withheld assent to the bill in March, saying the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide on election matters, including fixing dates and the order they would go.

Earlier, the introduction of the bill generated controversy, with some lawmakers alleging that it was targeted at Buhari in the 2019 elections.