Election sequence won’t change, to ensure certainty of dates
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Election dates and sequence “must be certain and not subject to arbitrary change,” the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained in a riposte to suggestion the sequence of the 2023 ballot be reordered.
“Suggestions in that direction are diversionary and intended to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the electoral process,” said INEC National Commissioner and Information and Voter Education Committee Chairman Festus Okoye.
He was reacting to a call by a civil society group, Conference of Civil Society of Nigeria (CCSN), for the INEC to reorder the election sequence.
CCSN argued the vote should start with the governorship, not the presidential as in the timetable of the INEC, saying reordering the sequence would ward off disruption likely to arise from conducting the presidential ballot first.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission does not and will not on any account share its constitutional and legal powers with any individual, group, or organisation,” Okoye told The PUNCH.
“It is the sole responsibility and prerogative of the Commission to organise, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor, and Deputy Governor of a state, and the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the House of Assembly of each state of the federation.
“By the provisions of Sections 132(1) and 178(1) of the Constitution, an election to the office of the President and Governor shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission in accordance with the Electoral Act.”
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Constitutional provisions
“Sections 132(2) and 178(2) of the same Constitution makes it mandatory that an election to the said offices shall be held on a date not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office,” Okoye added, per The PUNCH
“On February 26, 2022, the Commission, in compliance with Section 28 of the Constitution, gave the statutory notice stating the dates of the 2023 general elections and the place at which nomination papers are to be delivered.
“It is too late in the day to suggest an adjustment or tinkering with the sequence of elections.
“Suggestions in that direction are diversionary and intended to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the electoral process. Dates for the conduct of elections and the sequence of elections must be certain and not subject to arbitrary change.”
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