Senate passes electoral amendment bill

The Nigerian Senate has passed an updated version of the Electoral Act Amendment bill.

President Muhammadu Buhari had withheld assent to the electoral amendment bill citing constitutional and drafting issues.

The bill was sent back to the Senate for further legislative work.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, referred the matter to the Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, chairman of the committee, Suleiman Nazif, said all matters issues raised by President Buhari had been addressed.

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Speaking on the passage of the bill, Saraki said the bill would improve Nigeria’s electoral process.

“I want to commend everybody’s effort in making this happen and this will go a long way to improve our electoral processes and further strengthen our governance,” Saraki said.

“I am sure that with this bill, Mr. President will of course give his assent and we can finally have an electoral process that we will all be proud of.

“I thank you all for all your effort and also our colleagues in the House of Representatives,” the President of the Senate added.