NO VETO: Senate goes on recess having failed to reach a decision on rejected Electoral Bill

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, has failed to reach a decision on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari after about thirty minutes of closed session deliberation. 

Buhari has in a letter to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, said prevailing situation in the country such as high cost of conducting direct primaries, the security challenge of monitoring the election, violation of citizens rights, and marginalisation of small political parties, are reasons behind his decision to not sign the bill.

The rejection by Buhari had led to speculation the Senate could override the President. But it does appears that's not the case, however.

According to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, the House of Representatives has gone on recess and the constitutional provision is for the both chambers to jointly take appropriate action.

Lawan who said constituents have a role to play as major stakeholders in the business of law-making by the National Assembly, added that the recess presents an opportunity for Senators to consult with their constituents before the lawmakers reconvene in January.

Meanwhile, in another business of the day, the Senate passed a budget of N17.126trn from the N16.391 trillion submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2022 fiscal year, raising the figure by N800 billion.

The Senate also raised the oil benchmark to $62 as against the $52 that was proposed by the executive, while the exchange rate was retained at N410.15.

It said the increase in oil price was to reflect the current market values of the oil barrel in the international market.

In his presentation, Chairman of the Committee, Jibrin Barau (APC – Kano North), while giving highlights of the bill, said out of the total sum of N17.126trn for the fiscal year 2022, N869.6bn is for Statutory transfers; N3.8trn is for Debt Service; N6.9trn is for Recurrent Expenditure; and N5.4trn for Capital Expenditure.