The President of the Senate Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Saturday debunked rumours that the latter was in disagreement with the former’s standpoint on President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to assent the amended Electoral Act.
A statement jointly signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu and Turaki Hassan, spokesmen for Messrs Saraki and Dogara respectively, said the two leaders were “on the same page on what is the appropriate reaction to the President’s withholding of assent on the Electoral Act amendment bill.”
“Our attention has been drawn to reports in a national daily insinuating that there was a disagreement between Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara over how both chambers of the National Assembly will react to the withholding of assent by President Muhammadu Buhari on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
“We wish to inform the public that there is no such disagreement between the two leaders, and indeed the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“The Senate President and the Speaker, as heads of the two chambers of the National Assembly and representing the views of their colleagues, will want everybody to know that they are on the same page on what is the appropriate reaction to the President’s withholding of assent on the Electoral Act amendment bill.
“There is no disagreement between the two chambers as well as their presiding officers. The leadership of the two chambers constantly hold discussions and are in agreement on what to do, how to do it, when to do it and why it must be done.
“The issue at stake is not personal. It is about deepening democracy. It is about improving our democracy and the National Assembly is on firm constitutional and legal grounds to amend the law as well as take decisions in the manner they have been responding.
“We see that story and the insinuations contained in it as mere distraction and unnecessary misrepresentation aimed at creating division in the Federal Legislature. The Senate President, Speaker and their colleagues urge members of the public to discountenance the report,” the statement added.
