Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, says All Progressives Congress (APC) House members will thwart any plan to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto to sign the Electoral Act into law.
Gbajabiamila, an APC chieftain from Lagos, told newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday that the party had more than the required number to stop the process.
He explained that for the House to override the president’s veto, it required a minimum of two-thirds majority of its members.
It should be recalled that Buhari for the fourth time, declined assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill on the grounds that it was too close to the 2019 general elections to change the rules of engagement.
Gbajabiamila said that the National Assembly needed to put in more touches to the bill for it to be signed into law.
He said the president declined to assent the bill to enable many Nigerians have the opportunity to vote in cases of card reader malfunction.
“We have seen instances where the card readers have failed, what Mr. President has done is to protect everybody in Nigeria, many could be disenfranchised and we do not want that.
“If they are able to muster two-thirds and push it forward, there is nothing we can do but as a party, we are not going to be part of it as it makes no sense to override in the case of an important document,” he said.
The leader explained that a fire brigade approach must not be adopted, saying that the amendment was too close to the elections “and that is the reason for the ECOWAS protocol.”
The lawmaker said that it was too late in the game to begin to thinker with the rules and that the APC had the numbers to stop a veto.
