The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has requested the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to immediately reconvene the National Assembly to enable the passage of the Electoral Amendment Act Bill.
The APC in a statement released by its acting national publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena, on Friday, August 17, said the Electoral Amendment Bill is alive and waiting assent. Nabena also alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party is hiding under the “yet to be signed bill” to draw attention away from the treasonable actions of the Senate President for refusing to reconvene the National Assembly.
According to Nabena: “The Electoral Amendment Bill passed by the National Assembly is alive and awaiting assent. However, assent to Bills in all democratic governments reflects the prudence and discretion of the president in balancing the powers of key constitutional bodies and understanding the concerns of the executive.”
“While we strongly condemn the abuse of office by the Senate President backed by his PDP cohorts in sabotaging the executive, specifically INEC, all well-meaning Nigerians have a duty to speak up and ensure that the National Assembly performs its constitutional role and not serve an individual’s personal interest and sinister ends of the opposition PDP”.
“We call on all Nigerians, civil society and indeed the international community to resist the ongoing travesty and legislative rascality being perpetuated by the Senate President and the PDP. The sanctity of our electoral system is being threatened by this orchestrated sabotage and deliberate attempt to weaken INEC as we prepare for General Elections in 2019. The National Assembly must be convened immediately,” Nasbena said.
Meanwhile, in a related development, APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has called on lawmakers of the ruling party to do all within their powers to ensure that the National Assembly reconvenes. This came after Senator Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara adjourned plenary in July shortly after the police laid a siege to the residences of the nation’s number three citizen and Ike Ekweremadu, his deputy.
