Polls re-ordering: We’ll override the President’s veto, say Reps

The House of Representatives said on Wednesday that lawmakers would not hesitate to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto if he withheld his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

It said there was no going back on the bill, particularly the provision on the re-ordering of elections ahead of the 2019 polls.

A controversial new Section 25 introduced into the Act, changed the sequence of elections by making the National Assembly elections to come first while the presidential poll will now come last.

The amendment had passed in both the Senate and the House and its now awaiting Buhari’s assent.

However, in the elections timetable already released by the Independent National Electoral Commission before the amendment was passed, the presidential election was fixed to come first.

Yakubu, who spoke at a consultative forum with the media in Abuja, had said that so long as there was no new law in operation, INEC would stick to its timetable.

He added, “If something happens tomorrow, we will examine it and proceed accordingly.

“Right now, the draft is on my table based on the current schedule of activities. Thereafter, we will submit it to the approving authorities.”