President Muhammadu Buhari has withheld his assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021. In a letter to the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and read by AriseTV News monitored in Abuja, the president said prevailing situation in the country would not allow him sign the bill. Amongst other reasons he cited include high cost of conducting direct primaries, the security challenge of monitoring the election, violation of citizens rights, and marginalisation of small political parties. Buhari also noted that adopting direct primaries has implications on the rights of citizens to participate in the government, as constitutionally insured. The president said…

A leftist millennial who rose to prominence during anti-government protests was elected Chile’s next president Sunday after a bruising campaign against a free-market firebrand likened to Donald Trump. With 56% of the votes, Gabriel Boric handily defeated by more than 10 points lawmaker José Antonio Kast, who tried unsuccessfully to scare voters that his young, inexperienced opponent would upend Chile’s vaunted record as Latin America’s most stable, advanced economy. In a model of democratic civility that broke from the polarizing rhetoric of the campaign, Kast immediately recognized defeat, tweeting a photo of himself on the phone with his opponent congratulating…

Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed Nigerians. Ayu spoke on Friday during the inauguration ceremony to usher in the newly-elected national working committee (NWC). He said PDP has remained the most trusted political party since 1999, adding that other parties, including All Progressives Congress (APC), operate without “clear ideology or coherent programmes”. The national chairman said the opposition party has a track record of “performance and legacy achievement” in its 16 years of being power. “PDP is the only organic political party in Nigeria that has remained a credible,…

President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill over the removal of indirect primaries from the document. The Bill has therefore been returned to the National Assembly. This is even as Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State frowned on the “infringement” of parties’ rights by the National Assembly. Uzodimma, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, said the removal of indirect primaries from the proposed amendment would render political parties powerless, especially those with low funds to finance direct primaries. A senator who spoke with our correspondent revealed that the Bill was returned to the Senate and…