Governors of the 36 states under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum may meet this weekend to discuss Wednesday’s passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2010 by the House of Representatives, according to Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
The governor, who is the chairman of the NGF, told newsmen in Benin on Thursday that he and his colleagues would “take a common stand on the issue” at the meeting. He did not, however, give the date or venue but governors traditionally meet in Abuja.
Saraki, who was on a condolence visit to Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, on the death of his wife, Clara, said, “I think it is a matter of great importance and of great concern to our democracy. It will be premature for me to speak on behalf of everybody; there are feelers from my colleagues that there will be a meeting by the weekend to review and take a position on it.”
Meanwhile, the Senate gave an indication on Thursday that it might pass the bill next week. Senate Spokesman, Ayogu Eze, told newsmen in Abuja that the Senate was unable to pass the piece of legislation because of the failure of the Secretariat of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review to submit the report.
He said, “A lot of you thought that the passage of the Electoral Act by the House was also the passage by the Senate. I want to use this opportunity to clarify that we have not passed the Electoral Act in the Senate. We will pass it next week and then when we pass it, we are expecting that there will be some differences between the version that we will pass and the version that will be passed in the House.
“Therefore, we are expecting that there will be a conference committee that will look at harmonising it speedily so that we can pass it before we proceed on holiday
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