Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and the House of Representatives Minority Caucus have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sign the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 recently transmitted to him by the National Assembly.

They argued that signing the bill would help strengthen democracy in the country and avert litigations that might arise from next year’s general elections.

The amendment to the Act was done by the National Assembly to allow elected representatives, including a President, Vice President, governors and deputy governors vote during party primaries as statutory delegates.

Tambuwal, who is also a Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential aspirant, said he believes that his chances of clinching the opposition party’s ticket would not be affected if the bill was not signed.

“The president should sign the amended Electoral Act. It is for the good of democracy. It does not affect me personally,” he told Ondo PDP delegates and stakeholders in Akure.

The governor also said he believes that the country needed to be restructured to promote fairness.

Also yesterday, the Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, said in a statement that Buhari’s delay in signing the amendment to Section 84 (8) of the Electoral Act 2022 has thrown the nation into serious confusion.

According to him, the caucus feels that the confusion constitutes a threat to our democracy and the smooth conduct of next year’s general elections.

The statement reads in part: “The Minority Caucus urges President Buhari to note that any further delay in signing the amendment to the Electoral Act to give political parties a sense of direction in the conduct of primaries for the election of candidates for the 2023 general elections has the capacity to derail our entire democratic process and destabilize our dear nation.

“As representatives of the people, the Minority Caucus, we urge Mr President to avert an imminent political crisis which has the capacity of exacerbating the security situation in the country by immediately signing the Amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 and leave a legacy of a credible electoral process to the nation.

“Our caucus calls on all Nigerians, Civil Society Organisations(CSOs), the international community and all lovers of democracy to prevail on President Buhari to immediately sign the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 and save our nation from an avoidable crisis.”

Nation