A senator representing Kwara north, Sadiq Umar, says the senate chose to opt for the consultation of constituents on the next line of action for the Electoral Amendment Bill.
According to him, the national assembly chose not to override President Muhammadu Buhari on the electoral amendment bill but to make consultation.
The senator made the comment while speaking to journalists in Ilorin on Friday.
Last Tuesday, the electoral bill was transmitted to Buhari for assent.
The president rejected direct primaries approved by the assembly for political parties on the grounds of insecurity and the cost of conducting direct primaries.
However, Umar said the senators resolved to consult their constituents on the matter rather than override the president.
“When we resume, we will do what the people want us to do or what we think is best for Nigeria.
“What happened was that after the national assembly passed the electoral amendment act, the president wrote back to us giving reasons why he could not assent to it.
“We believe some of the reasons, some we don’t. For the senate, we were ready to override the president at that time.
“For us, we were prepared to do what we wanted to do but given our rules and constitutional provision, even if we eventually overruled the president in the senate, it would have been null and void, because there has to be concurrence by the two chambers,” he said.
“So, the senators also bought into the decision of the green chamber to consult with our people so that when we resume, we will do what the people want us to do or what we think is best for Nigeria.”
