Abuja – Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday refused to approve an amendment to the electoral law that would introduce a direct primary and electronic vote transfer during the 2023 presidential elections.
Elections in Nigeria have often been marred by fraud claims and court challenges since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999.
Buhari argued in a letter read out to parliament Tuesday that holding any primary would infringe on the bylaws of individual political parties, as well as lead to insecurity during the polls.
“The amendment as proposed is a violation of the underlying spirit of democracy which is characterised by freedom of choices,” he said in his letter to the senate president.
ALSO READ | Former central bank governor wins key Nigeria state election
“Such a large turn-out without effective security coordination will also engender intimidation and disruptions, thereby raising credibility issues for the outcomes of such elections.”
On Monday, the Transition Monitoring Group, a civil society monitoring body, urged parliament to ignore the president.
“If the national assembly vetoes the president, it will prove to Nigerians that it is not a rubberstamp arm of the government and that they respect the view of the constituents that gave them the mandate to legislate on their behalf,” its director Auwal Rafsanjani said.
President Muhammadu Buhari will be stepping down after serving two four-year terms, and political leaders are already jockeying for position before the February 2023 ballot to replace him.
The country’s independent electoral commission came under fire after Buhari’s re-election in 2019 over claims the ballot was not free or transparent in the country of 210 million people.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Getty Images
Source: AFP
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
