PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked the National Assembly to amend the newly-signed Electoral Act 2022.
This was disclosed in a letter addressed to the Senate and read at plenary on Tuesday by Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
Buhari asked the lawmakers to consider the outright deletion of Section 84 (12).
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The section has to do with the resignation of political appointees before party primaries.
The president, in the letter, stated that the provision amounted to the disenfranchisement of political appointees.
Specifically, Buhari asked the National Assembly to amend Section 84 (2) Sub-section 12, which stipulated that no political appointee 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 any candidate for an election.
In the letter, he said the amendment was necessary as the clause constituted a fundamental defect that led to the disenfranchisement of political officeholders.
The ICIR reported that Buhari signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law on February 25.
While signing the law, Buhari had drawn the attention of the National Assembly to Section 84 (12), noting that the provision constituted a fundamental defect as it conflicted with extant constitutional provisions.
A reporter with the ICIR
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