President Buhari deliberately delaying assent to Electoral Act – Governor Wike

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of using the controversy over direct primaries to delay the signing of the electoral act.

The Governor made the claim during the flagging of the Igbodo-Chokocho road in Etche local government area of the state on Monday.

The governor claimed that the real issue of the All Progressives Congress with the electoral act is provision for electronic voting but that the APC was only using the direct primaries as a decoy.

The Governor who alleged that “there is a conspiracy not to have a free and fair election in 2023” wondered why the president had not signed the bill and later asked for an amendment, as was done in the Petroleum Industry Act.

“Because I know their modus oparandi, I know their strategy, they are saying the National Assembly in their amendment recommended direct primaries and I said, look that cannot be the problem.

“What the APC did in the meeting they had is that their problem is not necessarily direct primaries, their problem is the electronic transmission of results in 2023.

“If you realize, under the PIB when they sent it to Mr. President, Mr. President signed and then went back for an amendment and that amendment was made.

“If direct primaries were the problem, why would Mr. President not have assented to that amendment and send it back for them to amend the direct primaries?”

Three months after, Buhari yet to sign Electoral Offenses Commission Bill into law