By Nathaniel Zacheaus, Abuja
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare, yesterday assured Nigerians that his principal would sign the 2010 Electoral Act (amended) Bill 2022 very soon.

He said Buhari had yet to sign the re-amended bill passed to him by the National Assembly on January 31, 2022, because he was still consulting with stakeholders and legal experts on the issue.

Omoworare stated this in Abuja at a Policy Dialogue programme organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

Participants at the forum including a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega; Country Representative of Westminster Foundation for Democracy, Adebowale Olorunmola, and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media, Benjamin Kalu, however, appealed to Buhari to append his signature to the bill without further delay.

Omoworare told the gathering that the President was consulting with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on the way forward.

He said, “A very crucial consultation is going on between Mr President, the Attorney General, and other critical stakeholders on the content of the bill for the required assent. If not for this programme, I was to be at the very important meeting believed to be the major determinant for the fate of the bill.”

He, however, assured Nigerians that the bill would most likely be assented to by the President since issues earlier raised by him in the 2021 edition, were elaborately addressed by both chambers of the National Assembly last month.

“I think in a few days, Mr President will do the needful since the most contentious aspect of the bill, had been addressed in the reworked one transmitted to him on Monday, January 31, 2022.

“Time as it is, is of the essence but I believe that Mr President will do the needful,” he said.

Malami also corroborated the submissions of Omoworare as he sent a message to the convener of the dialogue that his planned consultation with Buhari prevented him from attending the event.

The Director-General of NILDS, Prof Abubakar Sulaiman, said the dialogue was convened to gain insights from stakeholders into the issues likely to shape the conduct of political parties, political gladiators, contestants, and other issues.

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Addressing the forum, Jega said no law or legislation was perfect and that what was available at the moment was good and manageable for the coming elections.

However, the representative of INEC at the discourse, Prof Bolade Eyinla, said to avoid the problem of working on electoral laws at the tail end of conducting elections, INEC should be allowed to drive the process as being done in Ghana.

He said, “The situation at hand now is that roughly a year to the general election, the anticipated laws are not yet approved, meaning that the extant one will be used aside from the fact that the process has not enabled INEC to come up with clear cut guidelines for the conduct of the elections.”