Signs emerged yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari and other presidential candidates, will work a tight rope during the 2019 general elections.
This followed the adoption of reordered of sequence of elections by the National Assembly Conference Committee on Electoral Act (amendment) bill. The House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Act (amendment) bill, had in its amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act, included section 25(1) into the act by reordering the sequence of the elections to start from that of the National Assembly, followed by governorship and state assembly election before the Presidential election.
This runs sharply to the earlier sequence rolled out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last year, which put Presidential and National Assembly elections first before that of governorship and state assembly. In adopting the reordered sequence of election contained in the House of Representatives version of the amended electoral act, Chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Nazif (APC Bauchi North), put it to voice votes of the 12 members present to which they all shouted ayes ! Senator Nazif, in his remarks after the adoption of the new sequence of election, said the bill did not in any way violate any provisions of section 76 of the 1999 constitution which empowers INEC to fix dates and conduct elections.
He said, the words empowering INEC to that effect were duplicated in the bill just as powers confer on the National Assembly by section 4 sub section 2 of the Constitution, were exercised in relation to rescheduling of elections. ”
For the avoidance of doubt , this bill with the inclusion of section 25(1) which makes provision for sequence of election different from the one earlier rolled out by INEC, has not in any way violated any provisions of the laws governing the operations of the electoral body”, he clarified.
Also commenting , Chairman, House Committee on INEC, Hon Edward Pwajok said the concurrence by the Senate to what the House did, was very necessary in giving credibility to the electoral process in the country .
“The sequence of election provision in the bill is not targeted at anybody, but aimed at further giving credibility to the electoral process by way of giving the electorate the opportunity to vote based on individual qualities of candidates vying for National Assembly seat”, he said.
He added that if the bill is not assented to by the President, the lawmakers who adopted it based on national interest, will surely use constitutional provisions at their disposal to make it see the light of the day. “On whether it would be assented to or not by the President, as far as we are concerned, remains in the realm of conjuncture for now.
But if such eventually happens, we’ll know how to cross the bridge,” he said. Making further clarification on the sequence of election, a member of the committee, Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West), said while date for election is the prerogative right of INEC, extant laws of the land give schedules for such elections as sole responsibility of the National Assembly.
“So, contrary to reports and comments by some Nigerians on the reordered sequence of election, National Assembly has not overlapped its boundaries “, he said. Other members of the committee like Senator Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), Gilbert Nnaji (PDP Enugu South), Abiodun Olujimi (PDP Ekiti South), Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP Delta North) among others also commented in support of the reordered sequence of elections.
It would be recalled that the sequence of election now adopted by the 8th National Assembly, was earlier proposed by the 4th National Assembly in the 2002 electoral bill before it was later amended by the merger of the Presidential and National Assembly elec
