2019 Election Timetable: NASS To Override President Buhari If…

The federal legislators say they would not hesitate to invoke the relevant session of the Nigerian 1999 constitution and override the executive powers of President Muhammadu Buhari if he refuses to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, particularly the provision on the re-ordering of elections ahead of the 2019 polls.

The new Section 25 introduced into the Act had changed the sequence of elections by making the National Assembly elections follow that of governorship and state assemblies’ elections before the presidential poll.

The amendment had passed in both the Senate and the House and its now awaiting Buhari’s assent.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas in an interview with The Punch on Wednesday, said the National Assembly expected Buhari to give assent to the bill.

He said the NASS will not hesitate to override the president’s veto if he declines to assent to the bill.

“We are serious about this issue and we are not ready to reverse it. For now, the bill has gone to Mr. President and we are waiting for his response. If his response is that he won’t sign, we are ready to override his veto.

“I can assure you that in both chambers of the National Assembly, we will get the required two-thirds majority to override the veto.

“This is because this was an issue that the two chambers already agreed that the order of elections should be National Assembly first and presidential election last.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, had on Monday insisted that the Commission will follow its earlier released timetable of the 2019 general election.

Namdas, while reacting to INEC’s assertions, said the chairman was right when he said no law so far mandated the commission to change the timetable it already released.

Nadam also added that INEC will have no choice but to comply with the re-ordering once the president appends his signature to the amended bill.

“He is right to say so because the new bill has yet to become law. It is the decision of the President that will decide our next step.

“If he signs, there is a new law and INEC has no choice but to comply. If he doesn’t sign, we will override his veto and the assent will no longer be necessary”