Yemi Adedeji, Abuja
The last week’s reconciliatory meeting by the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) led by John Odige Oyegun, its National Chairman, with its Senate Caucus to avert the planned override vote of the president’s veto appeared to have hit the rock, as senators have started to append their signatures in a register to vote in favour of the passage of the bill.
The Senate caucus appears to be angry because it was the second time the chairman met with them since June 2015.
The caucus said the first time he met with them, he promised to resolve all the issues with the executive, but he did not, adding that there is nothing he can say now that we would believe he can deliver.
It was also gathered that the lawmakers in both chambers are unhappy with Oyegun for having watched while the executive explored every opportunity to rubbish the legislature.
However, a senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it is still not certain if the amendment will scale through in both chambers, but said he was confident that the amendment would pass easily at the Senate, but may hit a brick wall in the House of Representatives.
The senator claimed that at least 67 of his colleagues had already signed the register to override the veto, saying at least 15 are from the South-south geopolitical zone, 13 from the South-east, 10 from the South-west, 10 from the North-east, and seven from the North-west.
The register is believed to be in the custody of a senator from the North-east, adding that Senators from the opposition PDP are all in favour of overriding the veto.
The senator said that, “the House of Representatives is likely to be the stumbling block, but if many of them realise that their return to the House may depend on the bill, they would not hesitate to override the president’s veto,” the senator said.
Another senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, further revealed that about 20 senators were still undecided on whether to override the veto or support pro-Buhari senators who are said to be just 15 in number.
He explained that the pro-Buhari group has been operating under the assumption that it has about 40 senators on their side, but most of them are actually prepared to vote to override the president insofar as electronic voting is used on the day the voting takes place so that their identities can be concealed.
He also claimed that some PDP senators who have “deceptively” committed not to override the veto were only playing along in order to partake in the “largesse” being promised by the executive not to upturn the president’s veto.
“Of course, they (pro-Buhari group) will say they are more than that. But many are being blackmailed into doing so and are being promised cash. But they will vote pro-amendment at the end of the day.
“The pro-Buhari group is finding it hard to win people to their side, because our people know there is nothing special to be gained from fighting for the president. Chief John Oyegun (national chairman of the APC) cannot guarantee anything,” he said.
“This caucus is one of the most important blocs in the party, but that was the second time he has met with us since June 2015. The first time, he promised to resolve all the issues with the executive, but he did not. So there is nothing he can say now that we would believe he can deliver,” another senator said.
It was learnt that senators in favour of overriding the veto on the bill held a meeting at the weekend in Lagos, after attending the wedding of the daughter of business mogul, Aliko Dangote, where they assessed their plan.
The meeting also had in attendance some legal experts who scrutinised the Constitution on the planned override.
On the basis of the Lagos meeting and the counsel they got from the lawyers, the confidence among legislators set to override the president’s veto got a boost based on the interpretation of the two-thirds majority required to pass the Electoral Amendment Bill into law.
According to sources privy to the meeting, the general impression is that two-thirds of 109 senators and 360 members of the House will be required to vote in favour of overriding the veto.
However, the sources revealed that this interpretation of the Constitution was wrong, as what is required to override a presidential veto is for two-thirds of the members present at plenary to vote in favour of a bill’s passage.
Accordingly, lawmakers who are in favour of overriding the president are banking on the interpretation of certain sections of the Constitution, which specifically qualifies the two-third (or four-fifth in some cases) votes requirement.
