The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari did not consult 91 political parties before refusing to sign the electoral bill because he needed to act in the best interest of the nation.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) Ita Enang, said this on Thursday during an interview on Sunrise Daily, on Channels Television.
Enang had said one of the reasons the President did not sign the bill was because doing so would have been in contravention of Economic Community of West Africa States Protocol.
The ECOWAS Protocol prohibits the amendment of electoral laws less than six months to elections except a majority of political parties or players agree to it.
Enang said the National Assembly could not be said to be an aggregate of all political parties since not all political parties are represented in the legislative.
When asked if the political parties were consulted directly as recommended by the ECOWAS Protocol, Enang said, “I think that what the President is to do is to take the best of discretion and from his vantage point as President of the country, to look at international best practices.”
Incidentally, over 40 political parties including the Peoples Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party, as well as notable senior advocates have criticised the President for refusing to sign the bill which he had rejected four times.
