Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party have continued their pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari against signing the recently-passed Electoral Amendment Bill into law until all problematic sections of the bill are resolved.
APC governors, represented the party’s caretaker committee chairman and the Governor of Yobe State, Mala Buni, met with the president on Monday. Also attending the meeting were Governors Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi and Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa.
An APC source reported that although the governors did not discuss the controversy surrounding the National Assembly’s removal of indirect primaries, the issue appeared prominently in the meeting.
The source said that the governors insisted the president should return Amendment Bill to the National Assembly to reflect on the raised concerns.
It continued that many APC lawmakers were disappointed that governors had already hijacked the party’s structures ahead of the 2023 general elections. It was reported that the lawmakers believed that direct primaries would raise their chances of returning to the Assembly.
Other sources reported that governors from the APC and the PDP had planned to meet soon to send a delegation to pressure the president to veto the bill.
Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami was also reported to be on the governors’ side on the issue. Speaking through his special assistant on media and public relations, Umar Gwandu, however, the minister said he had no plans to try to influence the president.
