A non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Advocacy (LEAD) Network Africa, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for finally assenting to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Buhari signed the long-awaited Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law at about noon on Friday.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, told NAN in Enugu that the development was “a step into the greater future of the nation’s democratic growth”.
According to Okenwa, most citizens are happy that during Buhari’s administration the much-sorted Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and Electoral Act Amendment Bill were signed into laws.
These laws, he said, would definitely put the country on the right footing for economic and political development.
He said: “This is one of the highly sought development that Nigerians had yearned for over some years now.
“The president has given Nigerians a modern electoral law that will take care of many inconsistencies and lacuna in the previous law, especially as the nation goes into the 2023 crucial elections.
“The new law is based on findings and recommendations from previous elections to ensure that mistakes and ambiguities of previous elections were avoided.
“It will make the electoral process more transparent and check manipulation of the electoral system for selfish gains.
“It outrightly stopped political appointees from contesting any election, except they resigned at the appropriate time specified by the extant law.
“It also approves the use of electronic transmission of election results henceforth, amongst others.
“This is a positive development for all Nigerians because it is meant to strengthen the credibility and transparency of our electoral system.” (NAN)
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