BREAKING: Reps pass electoral bill without compulsory direct primary clause

FILE: Members of the House of Representatives at plenary The House of Representatives passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill ...

FILE: Members of the House of Representatives at plenary

The House of Representatives passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill on Thursday.

However, the lawmakers revised the compulsory direct primary clause.

The bill was passed after the removal of clause (84) requiring political parties to only select candidates through direct primaries.

GTNews had reported that the Senate on Wednesday included the consensus mode of primary in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill as suggested by the President, Muhammadu Buhari.

Both chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives, however, deleted compulsory direct primaries from the bill.

While the House gave options of parties adopting direct or indirect primaries, the Senate included direct and indirect primaries as well as the consensus mode as suggested by the President during his interview with Channels Television a few weeks ago.

Buhari had last year vetoed the electoral bill and sent it back to the National Assembly over the restriction of political parties to direct primaries.