The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was ill-advised by the enemies of democracy to withhold assent to the recently passed Electoral Act amendment by the National Assembly, urging the lawmakers to invoke their veto powers and sign the amendment into law in the interest of the country.

While reacting to the rejection of the amendments to the Electoral Act by the President, the CNPP in a statement by its Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, noted that no sacrifice was too much to save the country and the Nigerian democracy from nosediving into a one party state.

According to the CNPP in the statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, “Those advising the President on the reordered electoral sequence must have deceived him that the amendment was targeted at his reelection. In any case, is Nigeria not greater than any one man’s ambition?

“The President should focus on conducting a free and fair election like the previous government, which conducted the election that brought him into office.

“The truth of the matter is that a President that has done well will be reelected irrespective of the date the presidential election was conducted.

“Therefore, the unannounced fear of the Presidency that the amendment will adversely affect President Muhammadu Buhari's reelection is unfounded as the withholding of the President’s assent is not in his interest. The action is strongly portraying Mr. President as one who is not concerned about deepening democracy and has no interest in the credibility of elections after his tenure.

“We therefore urge the representatives of the people at the National Assembly to immediately invoke their constitutional powers and veto the President’s assent to move the country forward on the path of true democracy.”

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