The senator representing Lagos East at the Senate,
Gbenga Ashafa, has expressed confidence
that the progressive senators will stand against any plan by the National
Assembly to veto President Muhamadu Buhari’s refusal to once again sign the
recent amendments to the Electoral Act.
The president’s latest decision came in a letter
dated December 6, 2018, and addressed to both chambers of the National
Assembly.
Ashafa made this assertion while speaking with journalists
after a stakeholders’ meeting of the
Lagos East chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend in
Epe, area of Lagos State.
Responding to questions on the next line of action
for his colleagues in the Senate after the refusal of the president to assent
to the bill, Ashafa said: “I have had the opportunity of looking through the
well-thought out reasons adduced by President Buhari for not assenting to the
version of the bill which has been forwarded to him, and I am quite in
agreement with him.
“Both the president and the National Assembly have
shown good faith in the back and forth caused principally by drafting
inconsistencies, that have delayed the bill till now. We must all understand
that both sides must be dispassionately painstakingly disposed to ensuring that
there is no loophole in the final result of the proposed amendments,
considering the sensitive nature of the Electoral Act and overarching effect of
same on National security and stability of the polity.
“It cannot
be in tandem with any standard democratic ethos to introduce new rules to the
field of politics less than two months to a general election, we must be fair
to all concerned.”
Commenting specifically on the possibility of a veto
of the president’s decision by his colleagues, the lawmaker stated that “it is
a game of numbers and to conduct a successful veto of the president’s position,
the National Assembly would require a vote by two thirds of both houses.
“I am certain that the progressive block of senators
who have already seen reason with the president would not be in support of such
a veto.”
Ashafa also used the opportunity to express
confidence in the capacity of the electoral umpire, Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct a hitch-free general election while
also stating his belief in INEC’s neutrality.
He cited several commitments of President Buhari as
well as the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, to the international
community, civil society and all stakeholders in the electoral process as well
as the recently concluded elections as basis for his belief.
No comments:
Post a Comment