The United Progressives Party (UPP) on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari's decline to assent to the ‎electoral bill sent to him by the National Assembly on election sequence showed that he was afraid of losing the 2019 presidential election.  

In a statement by its National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, the party explained that ‎the order of election as contained in the electoral bill ‎if signed into law would ensure that‎ candidates of various political parties win elections essentially on their personal merit and the popularity of their parties' manifesto.

"His withholding assent to this bill smacks of fear of losing the 2019 Presidential Election as well as the fear of his party, the All‎ Progressives Congress (APC) not benefiting from the bandwagon effect of a possible early victory if the presidential election came first.

"If the APC and President Buhari were confident that the record of their performance was impressive as they have often claimed, there should be no reason why this fear should be expressed in the manner of withholding assent to a bill that holds very strong promise to deepen and develop our democracy," the UPP said.

Daily Trust