Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

New Election Timetable: Don’t Be Misguided, Senate Warns INEC

Senate President Bukola Saraki

The Senate has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission against being misguided on the extent of the powers of the National Assembly in the amendment to the Electoral Act 2010.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, while declaring open a public hearing on the bill seeking to establish the National Electoral Offences Commission on Monday, made reference to the controversy generated by the recent amendment to Section 25 of the Electoral Act, which seeks to re-order the sequence of polls during the general elections.

INEC had expressed its intention to challenge the amendment in court but later made a U-turn.

Speaking at the hearing conducted by the Senate’s Joint Committee on INEC; and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Saraki stated that the National Assembly had powers to legislate over the electoral body and other agencies of government.

Saraki, who was represented by the Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, also pointed out that the lawmakers could not be involved in any legislation that would violate the constitution.

“Of recent, there have been arguments on who has power to do what,” he said, adding that Nigeria had a lot of people who knew how to go to court to get all kinds of judgments.

“INEC should be cautious of who it is listening to. We would not sit anywhere this constitution will be violated. It is necessary we caution ourselves. We need this country, we love this country,” Saraki said.

The Senate President also decried that some political aspirants and parties were already campaigning when INEC had yet to declare electioneering open.

He said, “The Senate in particular would be very worried, if INEC begins to condone the actions of some political parties. You have not declared campaigns open, and some are already campaigning.”

Saraki asked INEC to exercise its powers and sanction such persons or parties.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in his presentation to the committee, disclosed that the electoral umpire currently had about 1,080 cases in courts relating to the 2015 general elections.

He added that the commission had received 124 case files of electoral offenders from the police, out of which 60 had been prosecuted.

Yakubu, who expressed support for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission, stated that INEC could not effectively prosecute electoral offenders and focus on its enormous responsibilities simultaneously.

The electoral body’s tasks, he said, included registration and regulation of political parties as well as monitoring of parties’ congresses and finances.

The INEC boss, however, noted that the Secretary of the NEOC should be appointed by the commission and not by the President as being proposed.

He also warned against appointment of ex-officio members, while calling for a proper definition of “electoral offences.”

 

__________

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2018 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

Politics

Civil Society group, Yiaga Africa has condemned the results of the Edo State governorship poll conducted on Saturday, saying that it failed the integrity...

Politics

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has uploaded over 88% of polling unit result sheets of Saturday’s Edo State Governorship Election on the commission’s...

News

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters register to the...

Politics

The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal for Sokoto/Zamfara states sitting in Sokoto on Monday sacked a member of the National...

Copyright ©