JUST IN….. Buhari signs amended electoral bill into law

Ahead of the forthcoming primaries of political parties, President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the recently amended 2022 electoral act, a lawmaker has said.

The electoral act has been a bone of contention for a while as the House of Representatives, Senate and other politicians were excluded from voting in their parties’ primaries by the 2022 electoral act.

Following the omission, both the Senate and House of Representatives last week convened emergency sessions where they amended the act to provide for statutory delegates to vote and be voted for in the forthcoming political parties primaries and conventions.

However, with few days left for the primaries to take place, politicians have been pressuring the president to sign it in order to avert crisis.

A member of the House of Representatives Emeka Chinedu representing Ahiazu/ Ezinihittee Mbaise federal constituency in the House of Representatives told BusinessDay the bill was eventually signed Saturday afternoon, May 21.

“I can confirm to you that Mr President signed the bill into law this afternoon and we are all happy about it as it will give us and other statutory delegates the power to vote at the primaries,” Chinedu said.

“The amendment was swiftly done by the national assembly members to legally provide a place in the Act for statutory delegates of political parties to vote during their congresses and conventions.

“It will indeed do a lot of good for the upcoming party primaries.”

The presidency is yet to confirm the signing.