A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Prince Tonye Princewill has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the amended electoral bill into law.

In a statement titled “Electoral bill amendment: We have been vindicated” and circulated to journalists Mr. Princewill said, “If I was to say that I told you so, I would be suggesting I knew for a fact beforehand that the President would sign the bill. What I knew was the President had the interest of Nigerians at heart and he was keen on putting in place a more significant improvement on how we conducted elections when compared to what he met in 2015. With the signing of this bill, he has done just that.”

In his opinion, “two observations come to mind. One, the election date will have to be shifted to meet the clause that has imposed on INEC a 360 day timeline to announce the date of elections to the office of President. The other implication is public office holders will have to resign before they contest a primary. That is in contravention with the constitution, as the President has pointed out, so either the lawmakers will amend it or candidates will go to court to challenge it if they are denied the privilege of contesting an election on the grounds that they have not resigned. That leaves it in the hands of the Supreme Court and my money is on the side of public office holders to win, if the National Assembly refuses to heed the advice of their President.”

“But make no mistake; this is a historic day in the affairs of our politics. Our Political parties would now be best advised to only choose candidates who are popular with their people. Otherwise Nigerians will do it for them”. Princewill declared

What is this one saying? Buhari has presented the same amendment in 2018 but he refused to sign because he would lose woefully the 2019 elections. Even now, he had to be coerced by civil society groups before he signed.

Facing the threat of overriding presidential veto by NASS was the reason Buhari signed the bill after giving a flimsy excuse for vetoing the first draft.