Electoral Act bill: House will determine fate of direct primaries – Gbajabiamila

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, assured Nigerians that the National Assembly will revisit the Electoral Act amended bill and will decide whether or not to remove the direct primaries clause from the bill after it resumes from recess.

He also ruled out the possibility of the National Assembly vetoing the bill earlier rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Gbajabiamila said this during the commissioning of some projects including the Obele mini stadium, Dosunmu road, Adedoyin road, Ojikutu, Ishola road by randle, Rasaq Balogun mini stadium and the Razaq Balogun road, Adeniran Ogunsanya in Surulere, Lagos.

He said the President refused to sign the bill based on advise but insisted that the direct primaries clause was meant to ensure Nigerians participated in the electoral process.

The speaker said: “If you followed the history of the amendment of the direct and indirect primary bill, I initiated that amendment bill for a good reason and it is for people to participate in elections. These are the people you see around when you campaign every four years come rain, come shine.

“For me, it does not make sense that these people do not have a voice in who represents them. It is part of being used and I didn’t like that.

“Most of us are reformers and one of the ways to reform the system is to make more accountable and to make the people have a voice in who represents them as opposed to a few people sitting in the four corners of a wall and writing results.

“That is what the amendment was all about. Again, there is a process.

“The president has, in his wisdom, rejected it and I believe he did it with good intentions based on the advice that he got. He weighed everything. Again, maybe times are different. He has people who advised him and I guess they advised him against the amendment bill.

“There is a process. When we come back, as I said, the House will look at those amendments. We will sit as the National Assembly, look at the reasons and at that point, consider removing that clause and pass the bill so that we do not do away with the baby and the bath water.

“But then, it is not my decision to make. It is the decision of the National Assembly, if they determine that the reasons are not good enough, then, there is a process prescribed by the constitution.”

When asked whether the National Assembly may veto the bill, he said: “Which way the sword is going to fall, I have no idea until that time. I cannot read the minds of the whole National Assembly members.

“They need 2/3 of the member to override the president, there is a reason the constitution prescribes 2/3, veto is not something you easily override.

“If they muster enough and they believe it is in the best interest of Nigerians, then, that is what we will do; otherwise, we will take out the clause and pass the bill so that Nigerians can have a credible electoral act and due process. They must get it.”

Speaking the projects and the impact it will have on his constituents, the Speaker said: “My job as a legislator is to represent those who voted me in and those that did not and that is what I have been striving to do for years even before I became Speaker. We thank God for what we have been able to do, we made promises and we delivered. To me, this is what I call the real dividend of democracy. It tells you the difference it will make to the youths. When I was campaigning, I told the people what I was going to do. I saw the state of the roads and stadium and when I came in, that is what I did. We will continue to do more because it is never enough.”