Former Senate President Bukola Saraki on Friday lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Electoral Act (amendment) Bill 2022 into law.
He also praised the National Assembly, civil society organisations (CSOs) and other Nigerians for their persistence in ensuring that Nigeria gets a new law that will guarantee free, fair and peaceful poll in 2023 and beyond.
Saraki noted in a statement by the head of his media office, Yusuph Olaniyonu, that although Buhari deserves praise for rising above partisan politics to sign the bill, CSOs deserve big applause for continuously agitating for the passage of the new Electoral Act in the past one year.
He said the old electoral law had been part of Nigeria’s problems.
“The new Electoral Act brings us closer to having free, fair, and peaceful elections in which people’s votes count, where the majority will have their way and the minority will have their say,” he noted.
Saraki recalled the various efforts that he and his colleagues made in the eighth National Assembly to give the country a new Electoral Act which led to the submission of the bill four times without getting the presidential assent.
The presidential aspirant specifically commend the effort of CSOs like Adopt A Goal Initiative, Raising New Voices Initiative, Human Rights Advocate, One Love Foundation, To Build The Nation Civil Society, YIAGA Africa, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Citizens With Disability (CDD), Albino Foundation, and CLEEN Foundation among others.
“I enjoin these youths in the CSOs to take their efforts to another level. That is the level of mobilising their numerous colleagues to go and register to vote in the coming general elections,” Saraki added.
