2019: Senate, Reps joint committee adopt reordered sequence of election

Senate and House of Representatives joint committee on Electoral Act amendment yesterday adopted the proposed reordered sequence of elections in the country.

The National Assembly conference committee on electoral Act (amendment) bill which met in Abuja said that reordered sequence of elections, which places the Presidential election last in the order of elections, is that best for the country.

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 is against the old sequence by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which slated the Presidential and National Assembly election first before governorship and state assembly elections.

Adopting the reordered sequence of elections as contained in the House of Representatives  version of  the   amended Electoral Act, Chairman  of the Committee,  Senator Suleiman Nazif  (Bauchi North), put it to a voice vote.

The 12 members committee unanimously answered in the affirmative.

After the adoption of the reordered sequence of elections, Senator Nazif insisted that the bill did not in any way violate any provisions of Section 76 of the 1999 Constitution which empowered INEC to fix dates and conduct elections.

He noted that the words which empowered INEC to fix dates and to conduct elections were duplicated in the bill just as the power that confers on the National Assembly by Section 4 subsection 2 of the Constitution were exercised in relation to rescheduling of elections ..

Nazif said, ” 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. ”