‘Fake News’: Buhari Has Not Rejected Electoral Bill – Presidency

The Presidency has denied a media report that President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the Electoral Amendment Bill.

Naija News reports that the Presidency was reacting to a report that the President had rejected the bill and transmitted it back to the leadership of the National Assembly.

In an interview with Daily Trust on Thursday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Babajide Omoworare, said the report is fake and should be disregarded.

Omoworare said there is no communication to the National Assembly to that effect, adding that any letter to the parliament would pass through his office.

He said that he is still waiting for the 30 days within which the president should communicate to the National Assembly if he wants to reject the report.

He said, “If there is a communication from the president to the National Assembly, I should know. Let’s just still take it (the rejection) as speculation.

‘If there is a communication to the effect that the president has rejected the Electoral bill, I’m not aware, and I should be aware, and we are still waiting for the 30 days within which the president should communicate to the National Assembly if he wants to.”

Also speaking, Buhari’s aide on National Assembly matters (House of Representatives), Ibrahim El-Yakub, said the report that the president has rejected the bill is laughable.

El-Yakub asserted that there is no communication stating that the bill has been returned to the National Assembly.

He said, “What I know is that it will not be returned through the back door.

“If the President assented to a bill, it will be known. He has 30 days from the day a bill is transmitted to the time he will assent to it. If he declined assent, the bill will just lapse and people will know that he has not assented.

“He will write to the National Assembly about it that he has not assented, stating his reasons. If he sent the letter, it must pass through me and I must be aware.

“It is not something that will be transmitted in secret and they keep quiet. That cannot be done. This government is not a Kangaroo government. There are rules and processes and the President always tries to follow those rules.”