2019: Buhari in support of PVC, card reader, Presidency says

The Presidency said on Wednesday President Muhammadu Buhari is fully committed to the use of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) and card readers in the 2019 general election. The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to incorrect and misleading reporting in several newspapers regarding the status of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018. “The Presidency would like to set out the true status of the Bill. The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was sent by the National Assembly to the Presidency at the end of June 2018, for assent. “Following extensive consideration, the Presidency engaged with the National Assembly to raise concerns regarding errors and inconsistencies found in the submitted version. Following this, the National Assembly, on July 24, 2018, met to review and correct the Bill. “The Bill was given, on July 24, 2018, a ‘clause by clause consideration’ by the Senate. The votes and proceedings from the Senate on July 24, 2018, attest to this. “The Senate resolved to rescind its decision on a number of clauses included in the version they had earlier sent for consideration by the President, and to reconsider these clauses. “According to the Senate Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday July 24, 2018: The Senate notes that in the course of final cleaning of the Bill as passed, some provisions were found to negate the essence of the amendment; [and] Resolves to: Rescind its decision on Clauses 3,5,8,11(2), 13(b), 14 (4), 15(3), 18,21,23,24,28,32 and 38 of the Bill as passed, and recommit same to Committee of the whole for reconsideration and passage.” According to him, the re-considered Bill was passed by the Senate on July 24, 2018 the same day that plenary was adjourned toSeptember 25, 2018. He said the revised Version of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018, with corrections by the National Assembly, and dated the 2nd of August, 2018, was received by the Presidency on the 3rd of August, 2018. The President, he said, has 30 days from the date of receipt, to assent to or decline the Bill. The Bill, according to him, is therefore still under consideration by the Presidency. He added: “The allegations that the President declined assent to the Bill because of objections to the use of card readers are wild and baseless. President Buhari did not and has never raised any objections to the use of Card Readers for elections in Nigeria. On the contrary he has always been a passionate advocate for the use of PVCs and Card Readers in elections in Nigeria, mindful of the role that Card Readers and PVCs played in the election that brought him into office. And he has repeatedly made this clear, and praised these technologies.”]]>