Saraki lauds Buhari over Electoral Act
Bukola Saraki, former president of Nigerian senate, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for finally assenting to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Saraki similarly lauded the National Assembly and Civil Society Organisations, among others. The presidential hopeful said specific CSOs are worthy of praise, including the Adopt A Goal Initiative; YIAGA Africa; International Press Centre (IPC); CLEEN Foundation; Institute for Media and Society (IMS); Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF); Human Rights Advocate; Ready to Lead Africa and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCI).
“They have kept the issue of the passage of the Electoral Act on the front burner for the past year.
“They were unrelenting and with the passage of the law, they deserve to be specially commended.
“We hope they will continue this good work on other key issues that are very important to the development of our dear country.
Saraki added that the youth members of the civil society groups have, by their actions, shown that “Nigerian youths are not lazy”, making apparent reference to Buhari’s comment.
“Rather, the young people of today are reminding us of the role their forebears played in the Nationalist struggle of the pre-independence era — particularly, the National Youth Movement (NYM), played in bringing an end to colonial rule.”
Saraki, a two-time governor of Kwara State, said the new Electoral Act would “bring us closer to having free, fair, and peaceful elections where people’s votes will count and where the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say.”
“For too long, the old electoral law had been part of the problem.
“We can now seek to elect our leaders having in mind the current challenges facing our country.
“With a new Electoral Act, we can move on to debating real solutions to the problems of insecurity, creation of jobs, strengthening of the economy, cementing national unity, and building a better future for all Nigerians.”
