Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says the new electoral
act will prevent political appointees from using public funds for election
campaigns.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed the electoral act
amendment bill on Friday.
At the signing ceremony, the president asked the national
assembly to delete section 84(11) of the act which bars political appointees
from voting or being voted for in party primaries.
In an article on Sunday, Shehu asked the national assembly
to review the section, which President Muhammadu Buhari had also expressed
concern about.
“It addresses the
unfortunate fact that some polling station results in the past have been
declared under duress – now with the power to review any results announced
under such circumstances enshrined in law, it makes the use of coercive
behavior counterproductive,” he said.
“The act also addresses the misuse of appointed political
office as a platform and source of resources from which to campaign for elected
political office.
“In the coming days or weeks, the parliament and the
executive should reach a common ground on the issue raised by the president at
the point of signing the law, which is the requirement for appointed political
office holders to first resign before being eligible to vote or stand for
election in the primaries for elective offices.”
Shehu added that the act is an example of “perfect workings
of a parliament and executive both driven by new energy to deliver change in a
country where the people want to move in a different direction”.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com