President Muhamadu Buhari has called on the National Assembly to quickly delete Section 84 (12) of the re-worked Electoral Bill which was signed into law a few hours ago.
Buhari, in his address during the signing, pointed out that practical application of the section which states that “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election”, would disenfranchise some eligible Nigerians.
According to him, Section 84(12) of the Electoral Bill, if signed to law, subjects serving political office holders to inhibitions and restrictions referred to under sections 40 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
President Buhari argued that the “only constitutional expectation placed on serving political office holders that qualify, by extension as public officers within the context of the constitution is resignation, withdrawal or retirement at least 30 days before the date of the election.
“Arising from the foregoing, with particular regards to the benefits of the Bill, industry, time, resources and energy committed in its passage, I hereby assent to the Bill and request the Nationally Assembly to consider immediate amendments that will bring the Bill in tune with constitutionality by way of deleting section 84(12) accordingly.”
 of the re-worked Electoral Bill){kind=link}