…President reels out reasons for withholding assent

By Levinus Nwabughiogu-Abuja

Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has formerly received and read the letter conveying President Muhammadu Buhari’s reasons for withholding his assent to the Electoral amendment bill.

This has confirmed media reports that the President had indeed rejected the bill.

In the letter, the President advanced a couple of reasons for withholding the signature.

The mood of the House can be described as somber as Gbajabiamila read the letter.

“The conduct of direct primaries across the 8,809 wards across the length and breadth of the country will lead to a significant spike in the cost of conducting primary elections by parties as well as increase in the cost of monitoring such elections by INEC who has to deploy monitors across these wards each time a party is to conduct direct primaries for the presidential, gubernatorial and legislative posts”, the President said amid other reasons.

Details later