Electoral bill: Buhari will know Nigeria not ‘banana republic’ – Dino Melaye

Senator Dino Melaye, who represented Kogi Central at the 8th National Assembly, has vowed to stage a protest following President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 into law.

It was recalled that the president, on Monday, officially rejected the bill which was passed by the National Assembly a month ago.

President Buhari’s decision to withhold his assent followed the inclusion of direct primary elections in the bill.

According to a letter he sent to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Buhari cited insecurity and the high cost of conducting the direct primary as his reasons for rejecting the bill.

Speaking in an interview with Channels TV posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Dino Melaye vowed to lead Nigerians to the street to demand the restoration of democracy in the country’s electoral processes.

According to him, the only way to curb bad governance is to get a proper electoral system that will include all Nigerians, stressing that “asking delegates to determine the faith of millions of people, is not democracy”.

He said, “If Buhari refuses to sign the electoral bill, he will know that Nigeria is not a Banana Republic. I will lead Nigerians to the streets for protest. A kind of protest you have not seen before and I am not afraid of anybody. This country belongs to all of us.

“Everything needed to revive this country is dependent on our electoral processes, once we don’t get that right, everything will continue to go wrong.

“I am for direct primary because democracy is supposed to be a government of the people by the people and for the people. Asking delegates to determine the faith of millions of people, is not democracy”.