Jonathan signs Electoral Act, releases INEC's cash

Source: pointblanknews.com

President Goodluck Jonathan has signed the new Electoral Act into law in Abuja.

Shortly after the singing of the document, the Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga told pressmen that the money requested by the INEC has been paid into their account.

"I am delighted to announce to say that the amount due was released as soon as the supplementary budget was signed by the President" adding that the supplementary budget was signed last Tuesday and the money released on Wednesday.

He also added that since the primary goal of the administration is to carry out electoral reforms and that the federal government is committed to help INEC succeed, by supporting them in any way possible.

He said the process was simplified because the government does not want to take the fall if INEC fails to deliver.

The Act introduces staggered elections in Section 25, the mood and manner of conducting party primaries and respect for party autonomy in Section 87 and among others.

Jonathan stated that "serious concerns have been raised regarding some of the sections and their capacity to constitute our inspiration for expanding our democratic space and driven by the belief that the promise of those processes has greater potential and options to broaden and advance our match to democratic freedom than undermine it".

Mr. Jonathan said he received three clean copies of the amended electoral bill three days.

"Let me on behalf of citizens congratulate the National Assembly and other stakeholders for this initiative," he said.

He said the process leading the passage of the bill "was a test of the nation's emerging democratic maturity. It is proof that this system can muster the capacity to correct itself while the nation moves on to a higher level of political development.

"Our lawmakers and other stakeholders have demonstrated by this that if a fault is identified in a system we do not have to pull the whole house down and start the journey all over. There is no perfect human system but the system can be improved to make it work better for the good of all. Amendments will sometimes be required in the journey of building democratic institutions."