* ‘We’ll implement if president signs bill’
* Buhari’s support group slams NASS
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it
will implement the amended Electoral Act, if assented to by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
INEC National Commissioner, Voter Education and Publicity,
Solomon Soyebi, disclosed this when he appeared on a Lagos-based
television programme, yesterday.
He spoke against the backdrop of Senate’s adoption of a
conference committee report on the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment)
Bill, which successfully altered the sequence in which elections
would be conducted, beginning from the 2019 general election.
Presidential and National Assembly elections have always held
(on the same day) before other polls, while governorship and Houses
of Assembly elections follow.
But, senators and members of the House of Representatives have
amended the sequence such that the National Assembly polls would be
conducted first, followed by the state lawmakers, and the governors
while the presidential election would take place last.
Asked if the amendment can be implemented by INEC in 2019,
Soyebi replied: “Unfortunately, yes, if the amendment becomes a law
now. If it is assented to by the president, it becomes law. We have
no basis to disobey the law; we have to work within the law, as it
is.”
The INEC national commissioner also reacted to speculations that
the electoral body would file a legal suit to challenge the
election reordering by the Senate. “There is no iota of truth in
that.”
He said the commission operates within the ambit of the law, and
noted that it would be difficult for the electoral body to
challenge the law, when it is, in fact, bounded by it.
“Everybody has a role to play in the governance of Nigeria; ours
is just to conduct elections and we have nothing to do with the
making of the law. So, if the law is made today, we are just there
to obey it,” he said.
Soyebi, however, said in some cases, INEC can challenge any
frivolous court order if it feels unsatisfied with it, but not the
law.
He, however, recommended that all elections should be conducted
the same day, as it is in some developed countries, stressing that
it can also be achieved in Nigeria.
According to him, INEC has realised that elections at the state
level garner more interest and generate more violence, pointing out
the polls in Rivers and Bayelsa states, as examples.
The national commissioner said it would be the first time the
electoral body would conduct a three-layer election since 1999, as
it has always been a two-tier election – national and state
elections. Senate was divided on Wednesday, after Senator Suleiman
Nazif presented the conference committee report in the chamber.
Senator Abdulahi Adamu, from Nasarawa State, led some of his
colleagues to rally against the new sequence of elections, on the
premise that it was not debated in the chamber before adoption of
the conference report on the amendment of section 25 (c) of the
Electoral Act. Thereafter, at a press conference after plenary,
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege said the group has 59 members to force the
chamber to rescind the decision.
The pro-Buhari senators said the new order of election was
partisan and pre-determined by members of a political party who
felt threatened by Buhari’s chances in 2019.
Meanwhile, in Enugu, the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) has
taken offence at the National Assembly’s re-arrangement of
elections in 2019.
The BSO said the National Assembly reorder was not only
unconstitutional, but mischievous and has asked the president not
to assent to the amendment. They urged the president to veto the
National Assembly’s exercise, so as to avoid the ‘booby traps’
being set for him.
State Publicity Secretary of the group, Chibueze Eze, in Enugu,
yesterday, said the amendment infringes upon the constitutional
powers vested on INEC by the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
* ‘We’ll implement if president signs bill’
* Buhari’s support group slams NASS
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it
will implement the amended Electoral Act, if assented to by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
INEC National Commissioner, Voter Education and Publicity,
Solomon Soyebi, disclosed this when he appeared on a Lagos-based
television programme, yesterday.
He spoke against the backdrop of Senate’s adoption of a
conference committee report on the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment)
Bill, which successfully altered the sequence in which elections
would be conducted, beginning from the 2019 general election.
Presidential and National Assembly elections have always held
(on the same day) before other polls, while governorship and Houses
of Assembly elections follow.
But, senators and members of the House of Representatives have
amended the sequence such that the National Assembly polls would be
conducted first, followed by the state lawmakers, and the governors
while the presidential election would take place last.
Asked if the amendment can be implemented by INEC in 2019,
Soyebi replied: “Unfortunately, yes, if the amendment becomes a law
now. If it is assented to by the president, it becomes law. We have
no basis to disobey the law; we have to work within the law, as it
is.”
The INEC national commissioner also reacted to speculations that
the electoral body would file a legal suit to challenge the
election reordering by the Senate. “There is no iota of truth in
that.”
He said the commission operates within the ambit of the law, and
noted that it would be difficult for the electoral body to
challenge the law, when it is, in fact, bounded by it.
“Everybody has a role to play in the governance of Nigeria; ours
is just to conduct elections and we have nothing to do with the
making of the law. So, if the law is made today, we are just there
to obey it,” he said.
Soyebi, however, said in some cases, INEC can challenge any
frivolous court order if it feels unsatisfied with it, but not the
law.
He, however, recommended that all elections should be conducted
the same day, as it is in some developed countries, stressing that
it can also be achieved in Nigeria.
According to him, INEC has realised that elections at the state
level garner more interest and generate more violence, pointing out
the polls in Rivers and Bayelsa states, as examples.
The national commissioner said it would be the first time the
electoral body would conduct a three-layer election since 1999, as
it has always been a two-tier election – national and state
elections. Senate was divided on Wednesday, after Senator Suleiman
Nazif presented the conference committee report in the chamber.
Senator Abdulahi Adamu, from Nasarawa State, led some of his
colleagues to rally against the new sequence of elections, on the
premise that it was not debated in the chamber before adoption of
the conference report on the amendment of section 25 (c) of the
Electoral Act. Thereafter, at a press conference after plenary,
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege said the group has 59 members to force the
chamber to rescind the decision.
The pro-Buhari senators said the new order of election was
partisan and pre-determined by members of a political party who
felt threatened by Buhari’s chances in 2019.
Meanwhile, in Enugu, the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) has
taken offence at the National Assembly’s re-arrangement of
elections in 2019.
The BSO said the National Assembly reorder was not only
unconstitutional, but mischievous and has asked the president not
to assent to the amendment. They urged the president to veto the
National Assembly’s exercise, so as to avoid the ‘booby traps’
being set for him.
State Publicity Secretary of the group, Chibueze Eze, in Enugu,
yesterday, said the amendment infringes upon the constitutional
powers vested on INEC by the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/inec-gives-condition-on-reversed-election-schedule/